Preface
Steemit has been around for almost 1.8 years now... while we all have enjoyed the platform and taken its perks in form of Steem and SBDs, it is time to take a leap forward...
Alot of people post here all sorts of content on daily basis, yet somehow the bloggers on steemit are not creating content that actually matters to the people living outside of platfrom..and even if they are, the content is either below average or is not powerful enough to be shown in google searches.
Don't get me wrong. Each of us have done a wonderful job in our own capacity but we are not reaching out to the people outside
I agree that steemit is a social media website but with the advent of @dtube, @dsound, @zappl, we really have the opportunity here to attract the outside world by posting useful content.
Enough with Whining on Steemit
Please for the love of god, JUST STOP..
If you have issues regarding steemit user policy being unfair or people abusing steemit platform and steem blockchain for their own benefits, please take it to @utopian-io and make a contribution on how to solve the issue of any type of abuse. Not only utopian will reward your effort (if it is a genuine one) but also your contribution can be accepted and implemented.
Where does Steemit Lag
Currently, steemit users are covering a very small portion of content that the outside world actually look for. The platform itself is wonderful.. but we are not doing it any favour by keeping the content within the same loop and not expanding our horizon. The key here is the word "Contribution". The contribution based content always triumph over regular content.
I would like to pay my thanks to @transisto, who has been a constant promoter of contribution based content on Steemit. The idea of contribution based content is derived and inspired from his posts.
Getting Attention of General Public
It seems that some people have different approach when it comes to promoting steemit
Yes, Sporting T-shirts and hoodies and caps having steemit & steem blockchain logos on them are cute and all but what does it transmit to common masses??
Nothing... or at least nothing that could help the platform grow..
Useful Contributions and Content related to it
Let me help put things in perspective with few examples here..
Normal people in the outside world often come across many issues in their lives.. so what do they do? They search for answers on Google search engine..
For instance :-
- How to install / tweak systems in cars
- DIY guide on how to repair / replace your faulty tech equipment.
- Analysis on Top 5 upcoming tech equipment (phones, laptops etc)
- Children Nursery Rhymes
- Hands on videos of different tabs, phones and laptops
- Exercises/gym regime/diet plans/ fitness
- Gaming / mining Rigs build videos and analysis
- Troubleshooting guides
- Movie / seasons analysis
- Simple daily life hacks
These are just few sample entries carved out of a very very long and infinite list of things that people search for online. On any of the google searches, there is hardly any link of steemit related to any useful content that will attract the outside world here.
Conclusion
I would like to emphasise again that steemit is indeed a wonderful platform and we can make it even more stronger and more beautiful by adding useful content. Yes, we can continue to use it as a social media website but we can also post useful contributions that will bring traffic from the outside..
Best Regards
JBN
Thanks for a thoughtful post. I'm not too experienced on steemit yet, so my opinion may not be well informed, but here's my 2 cents.
I suspect that the combination of a 1 week payment window and the speed at which posts stop getting engagement discourages a lot of people from posting evergreen content. Why spend 20+ hours creating an in-depth masterpiece, only to watch it disappear into obscurity within an hour of posting?
I'm not sure how to fix this problem, but maybe something like an algorithm that linked similar posts and showed them on the side whenever you view an article. This would give older posts another chance to be seen, although under the current system the author still wouldn't get any additional rewards.
As it now stands, steemit is inherently an inward-focused platform by nature of the fact that outsiders can't upvote or follow unless they sign up for an account, which most of them are not going to do. So that means a lack of incentive to attract them.
Because if you wont do that, your following wont increase.. it happens to everyone.. consistency is the key.. a lot of people think like that.. hell.. even i used to think like that.. so at one time during my steemit journey, i started posting average content and memes and immediately i started to lose followers. After 3 average / meme posts, 21 of my followers left me.. so i realized that for me to gain a substantial audience on steemit, i will have to post quality content all the time. Even if that means many of posts going down the drain..
about your older posts... you can always re-write them and make a new post out of it once you have gained adequate audience. But dont fo self plagiarism.. give your new post another angle and always mention the link to your previous post ..
Do you have a facebook account? Youtube? Instagram? Twitter? Linkedin accounts? I believe you do.. why? Because they created a market.. when you generate enough quality content here, people will start to see the importance of platform and will join it..
Hope my answers have helped you in some way...
Thanks. For the record, I wasn't talking about posting half-ass crap. Some people do that, and even make money at it. Personally, I only post well-written quality content. I use my real name and picture across the internet. If I post crap anywhere, it affects my reputation, so why would I do that?
I'm talking about a different level. If I spend 20+ hours on a 3,000 word in-depth masterpiece, it goes on my personal blog, even though I won't make any money from it there. Why? Because I know that it will stay there for years and providing lasting value to the world. When I write for steemit, I write quality stuff, and my followers appreciate it. But I'm posting more frequently, and writing shorter, less in-depth articles than I do for my personal blog, because that's the kind of content that steemit is designed to support.
By the same token, although I put a ton of effort into the articles I write for my personal blog, I still spend much less time on those articles than on writing a book. Why? Because a book takes a year or even multiple years to write, and will provide lasting value to the world for many years. It doesn't make sense to post entire books on a blog, and it doesn't make sense to post 3000 word in-depth evergreen articles on steemit. If anyone is posting such articles here, I haven't seen them yet. I'm just saying there's a good reason for it. It's the nature of the platform. That might change, but that's how it is right now.
I don't even know whether I'm contributing with high-quality content. I am, however, sure that the content quality cannot be judged by the size of the reward and I wish those two things were more correlated.
Thanks for a great post.
Just make sure that your content is helping someone with something.. i dont mean to say thats all you should do all the time but at least 50% of your blog posts must be contributions and not just plain content..
@jbn, I share your vision for the future SteemIt. I agree that we are lacking in quality posts. Aside from "Steem" related searches, the other keyword searches on Google will probably not lead you to any article on Steem. I hope this will change as more people generate quality content and these get content get the votes that they deserve.
Amen.. thats what i was talking about..
100% agree. Great post.
Thank you so much.. :)
I haven't jotted down my 2018 plans yet but one of them is to become a proper blogger on Steemit by writing about life's important aspects. I have special interest in finance, leadership, change, inspiration, positive use of technology, etc. etc.
I agree that Steemit needs to become something like medium, probably a mix of Reddit too to become a solid content host.
Let's see how it all evolves.
Thissss.. this is what my vision is..
when people search for "AMD Radeon Rx-570 performance", a steemit link should appear in those kind of searches so people know that there is quality and reliable content on this site too..
Thats how we'll bring traffic here..
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