In continuing my initiatives to persuade new people to join Steemit, my efforts seem to get met with an inevitable dose of skepticism. That's somewhat to be expected... people are always skeptical of things that haven't been tried before, and things they don't really understand.
So this post is directly and indirectly addressed to all those skeptics who keep raising this one particular question...
Oh, Steemit PAYS You to Create Content? It must be SCAM!
Oh, Reeeally?
A very vivid late sunset
Seriously folks, the one thing I just don't understand is this notion-- which I have now run into repeatedly-- that Steemit "must be a scam" because contributors here are actually rewarded for their work. Further to that is the further implication that Steemit "must be a scam" because the rewards are in our own currency-- Steem-- rather than US dollars.
"Well, if it's so legit, why don't they just pay in dollars? They must be hiding something!" they say.
So I wanted to take a deeper look at these concerns-- because maybe they are legititmate on some level, based on prior experiences-- and try to wrap some perspective around them. So let's look at some of the ways content creators and social media users put their work on the web
Writing Content for Publication and getting paid
The "getting paid" part bothers me really bugs me, as any kind of indicator that a scam is afoot.
Apricot blossoms
Let's say someone writes an article and The Atlantic Monthly or Time Magazine picks it up and pays the creator $500.00, that's definitely not considered a scam. In fact, you get congratulated on your "success."
Similarly, if you create content for a web site and they pay you $200.00, that is definitely not a scam-- it's considered "compensation for work done."
So the money angle just doesn't work for me.
Writing Content for Facebook and Social Media
At the opposite end of the scale, lots and lots of people create billions of pieces of content for Facebook, tumblr, Pinterest, WordPress, Medium and other places... and not only do they never get paid a single cent, but the service providers make huge profits from that content by selling advertising, customer lists and more.
But apparently this kind of "people's work being exploited for FREE" isn't considered a "scam" by the mainstream, either. Most puzzling.
Creating content for your own blog or web site
Then there's yet another option-- which I am personally very familiar with.
Our eucalyptus tree in bloom
Yes, you can get paid for your content by creating your own blog, then spend years building a following, and then adding Google Adsense and Amazon affiliate links to your pages. As a result of which, you might end up with $30-40 a month in "commissions."
I've done it. I have the deposits to prove it. Let me also add that it is a lot of work!
Evidently, that's also not "a scam," in the eyes of most people. That's just "hard work and perseverance." Although... it does seem to become "a scam" when Google suddenly decides to yank your Adsense account because they almost arbitrarily decide they don't "like" your content, anymore. Or you "did something" that was against some small rule on page 453 of the user agreement.
Now, let's talk about Steemit
On Steemit, contributors get compensated for their content, as a result of being creative and their posts being rewarded through a process of peer curation.
A Lonely Seagull...
Yes, it's absolutely true that the rewards are paid in our own currency named "Steem," which is essentially a form of "digital money." For ease of understanding, think of it as an organization paying you in their stock, rather than with cash. Undeniably, it still has "value," but you can't just run down to the corner store and buy a sixpack with a share certificate.
There are actually benefits to the rewards not being paid in regular $ currency-- specifically that the fact that you can't just cash out and go buy groceries every time you have $5 serves to encourage contributors to keep their rewards as "SteemPower" and gradually become stakeholders in the Steemit community.
Another benefit is that since the Steemit "treasury" isn't funded by dollars (or other cash), the platform won't just "go away" like many other user-generated-content sites before it, when they ran out of cash.
So how exactly is that "a SCAM?" It Isn't!
The argument is, most often, that Steem is perceived to come out of "thin air." That it's basically "Monopoly Money." So how can it be "worth anything?"
The Blue Butterfly of Happiness
Let's take a closer look at that line of inquiry.
My best answer to that is "How can shares of SnapChat be worth anything?" The company may have millions of users, but they have yet to figure out how that translates into making any money, at all. SnapChat barely even generates revenue, let alone profits.
And yet, the value of its stock is held up by the belief of investors that "it has value." And that "it's something great," with the potential to have a major impact on the web
Well, in a very similar way, Steem (the currency) is traded on "altcoin" currency exchanges and fluctuates in value just like shares of stock... and is mostly on the rise, because investors believe the Steemit social content site is "something" worth investing in.
And guess what? If you become a Steemit contributor who chooses to become a stakeholder for the long term... not only will you get rewarded for your content, you may also benefit from the price of Steem going up over time.
And that, my friends, is not going to happen with money you get paid for an article you wrote for a magazine, nor with your Google Adsense money and especially not if you keep allowing Facebook to make money off your content you are giving them for free.
And that last thing? The Facebook thing?
In MY world, that's the REAL "scam."
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
I've been treating this topic as well. This is a new monetary paradigm. Even though it is naturally more intuitive, it is different than the established system, and so people have cognitive dissonance about this.
Gotta keep pushing!
upvoted
@shayne
Thanks @shayne... it is a new paradigm. And it will take time to gain acceptance. I'm old enough to remember when PayPal was a new thing, and people thought it was "a scam" and "unsafe" to send and receive money that wasn't tied to a bank or Western Union. Today? Most of the world's businesses take PayPal, and half the world's individuals have the PayPal.me app on their phones.
Patience!
Love this article!! I to run into skeptics, I will use this post for those that don't understand where the money comes from. Thank you @denmarkguy!!
Thanks for the kind words! It's too bad so many people are skeptical... but that's how it goes with new things. I am hoping people will use this article and others like to to help clarify things for potential newcomers.
I actually chose the first part of the title very deliberately as "search bait" for Google and the other search engines, for when people look for "Steemit is a scam" before joining... they'll possibly find this article rather than some grumpy member's complaints.
The general public does not understand digital currency and blockchain, or decentralization. Of course Steemit sounds like a scam. Just like Bitcoin and digital currency does. It seems like it's too good to be true. We have a long way to go before any of this is mainstream. Honestly, I think some financial disasters need to take place to force people to look for alternatives before they will really understand.
I agree... to a point.
One possible path forward is to emphasize "non-monetary" benefits to this technology. Steemit, for example, is also a great platform because it doesn't suffer from the arbitrary banning and account closing of YouTube, Google+, Facebook, twitter and so on. Aside from the issues of whether it sounds like "a scam" we can also point to the fact that transaction costs are much lower than other methods. For merchants, cryptos offer a way to perhaps gain a few more dollars from a few more customers... who tend to be quite loyal to establishments that accept BTC (For example, my wife and I are about to start accepting BTC at our art gallery).
I have also asked people to consider cryptos as part of "investment diversification," pointing to the way people made fortunes by investing in AOL and Yahoo at a time when the world regarded the Internet as "for nerds and for creepy pedophile stalkers."
Successful marketing is about "rephrasing" something scary with existing terminology people can actually relate to.
Do we have a long time till this goes mainstream? Yeah, probably. The idea of "everyone" having an Internet connection took a good 15-18 years. The idea of "everyone" owning a computer took about the same. Bitcoin is barely 9 years old; alt coins much less... so we probably have a good 5-10 years till "mass adoption."
Not one bit surprising that people think it is a scam.
I can barely get 2%-3% of my Facebook friends list to get that that Federal Reserve ISN'T a government agency or to understand how fractional reserve banking works, or any number of verifiable facts. Most people are plugged into the idiot box (TV) and brainwashed to a nearly hopeless state.
Really sad actually, like a bunch of scared caged animals
Oh, I hear you. The world is full of FEAR everywhere... we live in a fear-driven economy. People consume when they are afraid; they "buy into" what they perceive to be safety.
And nobody likes it much when I tell them a $100 bill and a Bitcoin are both intrinsically worth approximately ZERO (a small piece of paper, and a computer record)... and that the value lies purely in our belief and agreement that these things have "value."
Great post and good explanation. Most newbies must understand that ALL govt fiat money is virtual. Being able to pay my bills (among other things) with Steem make it tangible.
Yep... and hence once of the things we must (as a community) expand on is creating the economic ecosystem of Steemit. Steem shopping, Steem services and so on... not only will the fact that people are actually trading with each other lend legitimacy to Steemit, it will also help differentiate (super important, in the marketing sense!) Steem (the currency) from the explosion of other alt coins... by providing an actual "economic reason" for it's existence... most other coins don't have that.
And it's fun!!
It is tough to convince people of steemit and any cryptocurrency as being legit and not a scam...Its just as hard to tell people that fractional reserve banking is a scam....In time people will understand and open their eyes and wake up
@hotassyoga, you're right... but we're also in an emerging field, so skepticism is natural. There was a time when the world thought horseless carriages "would never catch on."
I have never taken the approach of calling fractional reserve banking a "scam," because it gets people's hackles up... and then their minds close to anything I have to say. Instead, I ask them to "explain money" to me... and gently guide them through a journey of "discovery" in which THEY get to conclude that a $100 bill is worth about 2c of ink and paper aside from this idea that we "believe" it is worth something. I don't even *mention" Steem or BTC... I go directly to people in Africa (I lived in Kenya, as a kid) using cowries as money. Which they have done for hundreds of years. Then, and only then do we get to the idea that money is merely a "temporary store of value" and money can be anything from engravings of Ben Franklin to Cowries to electronic tokens known as Steem.
It's time consuming, and I only "bother" with people I believe would genuinely enjoy it here, and would be assets to the community.
I think i will try your approach..I actually stoped trying for a little while because i felt like i was not getting through to anyone...But i will try it again in a new way.Thank you....But i wont force the conversation either
I really don't understand why people think its a scam when you don't have to put your own money in... that is the amazing part to me. I have taken $3,000 dollars out and still have 2,800 steem on Poloniex. you don't ever have to put money in. lol
An important point, @peacekeeper. I haven't quite dialed in that angle, either... if you're not at risk then how can there be a scam? Also, Steemit doesn't promise to pay anyone (like an employer and working for a paycheck), Steemit merely offers the possibility that you might get paid.
search for "The Great Steemit Debate" between myself and Tone Vays. He calls everything a scam, so I'm not sure it makes much of a difference what he thinks about it.
@blakemiles84, although I am not all that knowledgeable about Tone Vays, whenever I come across his name in some context, it seems he's always trying to tear things down. Philosophical naysayer... takes ideas apart. I mean, he was also trying to persuade Jeff Berwick that Steemit is "a Ponzi Scheme."
For me, trying to reach a quasi-celebrity's rabid followers is much harder (because their minds are already made up) than reaching individual skeptics and gently pointing them in a different direction.
The same people who will buy a lottery ticket every day of the week....will be completely paranoid about an opportunity like Steemit.
Yeah, it's like a partial cognitive blindness. Like people who go to casinos because they "can" win thousands of dollars, even though the house has the "favor" by a margin of 100-to-93.
Thank you for breaking it down. I have heard that line "why don't they just pay you in dollars". I hope steemit succeeds and everyone who contributes gets filthy rich in the process.
Patience is definitely important... there was a time when Bitcoin was less than a dollar. But that was eight years ago.
Great post!
I have received more negative reactions then positive when sharing Steem.
Thanks for sharing and Steem on :)
Thanks! What I have learned in the process is to "re-state my enthusiasm" for Steemit... I've started plugging it more to a specific niche of old writer friends I know, downplaying the rewards and using some parallels from old sites we used to use.
People naturally are suspicious of anything new or different and by the time they accept it they've missed a lot of profits!
I think you're poking at the edges of something important there... a lot of people are more oriented towards "being suspicious" than "being adventurous." And that's how they end up missing out on opportunities.
Hah, I've heard all these before too! Seems that some people just don't get it, wonder if they will in a few years when steemit has taken over. ;p
Patience will definitely be important. Steemit is just a year and change old. Even Facebook-- which is about as mainstream as it gets-- really took about eight years to get to "world domination," so we have a ways to go.
Thanks for thinking & writing this all out. We're in for a wild ride with Steemit as folks realize their version of reality (social media platform or compensation for work in general) may be flawed. Of course, so could ours. :) Stoked to be along for the ride.
In many ways, this is all "a big brave social experiment." A social content platform, on the blockchain.
But we have some good things going here, that stand alone from the tech and the rewards... a return to "social blogging," which is a market niche that has been largely ignored since about 2007-08. We also have this more "censorship proof" platform, which is a very apropos thing to have in these turbulent times of corruption and dubious corporate/government intent.
Yes... you have give good explanation about steemit. Nice ! :)
Thanks! Glad you found it useful!
People need to think outside the box...outside the banks...outside the norm! Thank you for posting this and let's keep steeming until people listen.
I prefer outside the cage.
Yes, we just need to keep at it. We're still very "new," in the greater sense... going from "introduction" to "widespread adoption" (of a new idea, a new kind of product) generally takes 10-20 years.
You described perfectly what I've been trying to explain but just couldn't put it all together.
Great post.
meep
Thank you-- glad you found it helpful
Whosoever considers Steemit a scam is living in 18th century. Steemit is real and true.
Indeed, it is. But it will take time. I'm old enough to remember when IBM (at the time the world's largest computer maker) rejected the idea of "personal" computers on the grounds that there wouldn't be enough individual people interested to warrant making them...
Hahahahaha. Such is life.
I'm still a newbie with this kind of platform but is willing to learn more out of it . thanks for the information.
Welcome to Steemit @gabriellasam! I hope you enjoy your time here-- just be patient and persistent. It takes a while to get a following and build a reputation... but it is WELL worth the effort!
This is an excellent article. Thanks for posting and clearing things up about the Steemit "scam".
Glad you found it helpful... of course, keep in mind this is just one person's perspective.
I really enjoyed your post. It highlights some really good points.
Thank you!
I agree with you!
We just have to keep telling people that we have "a real thing" here.
lol 😀 😃 😄 😁 😆 😅 😂
I am converting my steem into Bitcoin and saving every Bitcoin I have on a paper wallet. If it's not real...oh well, still have cash and PM's. But I think Bitcoin will last so I am saving cypto money there.
I missed the Microsoft boat, the Apple boat and the Google boat, but I'm not missing this boat!
I'm new here and I have found some great posts here on Steemit. And I can't wait to help the community. Great post!