I can see where you're coming from but you have to remember that this blockchain is mined by the actual users.
Would you feel resentment if the whales were like they are in Bitcoin? Massive warehouses full of ASIC computers mining away and controlling vast amounts of influence on the platform when all you could do is mine a little inconsequential piece with your computer? They've invested a ton of something to get that influence whether time or money and have a right to wield it.
The fact of the matter is that any blockchain has this situation. The more attention it gets, the more players. If you want to be a part of any blockchain you are going to either invest in the coin or invest in a way to mine it. With this one, the beauty is that anyone can participate without having to drop a dime into mining hardware. All they have to do is participate.
From this perspective I think Steem actually offers a lot more possiblity than any of the other crypto's for newcomers to get engaged and get there first taste of what it's like to participate in the crypto space.
I could care less about the whales and upvote bots. I don't worry about that part of it. What keeps me coming back to the platform is the fact that I find interesting content here daily that adds value to me and because of the mining rewards I enjoy participating. The community is actually a lot better than I thought it would be given the way this whole experiment is setup.
In my short time here I've come across great people, great content and a fun way to interact and be social. That's why I continue to participate.
I do believe anyone can grow on this platform, just takes time and effort and a realization that this is a game that requires more than just good content. You have to engage, participate, and bring value. If you do all three of those for an extended period of time, you're going to eventually reap the rewards.
Are there people on the platform that rub me the wrong way? Absolutely, but that's going to be the case anywhere you encounter human interaction. Overall though, I have found the overwhelming majority of active users that aren't bottom feeders to be really cool.
Do I see flaws in Steemit? Sure. I know you saw my comment about why I won't buy above a buck, but the truth of the matter is, that if they fix the big hurdles and get this thing out of beta, I believe it has massive potential.
So we wait and see if they can deliver or not. In the meantime I'm enjoying myself and loving the different content and interactions I encounter daily.
Just like this post.
I love your enthusiasm, and I wish you the best, but I know you believe that a lot of things have to change around here, especially cracking the nut on how to get new users to come along and stay here on Steemit correct?
Yep, I think the biggest concern for me is the barrier of entry for new users. The retention side is obviously important but I think that comes from people being able to easily bring their current friends into the platform.
Right now, I believe the retention is low due to the fact that most people don't have the ability to join or interact with their current social circles. There is no easy way for someone to experience the platform and then invite all their friends to come join them immediately. Each and every one of us has had to put time into the platform getting to know others on it by following and reading content.
Add to that the fact that it's blockchain based and users have to immediately have this weird long password that they can't forget and no way to recover, along with three different currencies and there's just a lot of hand holding and explaining that has to happen. It's not an insurmountable barrier of entry but it's not an easy one for sure. The more users we get that stay here and figure it out the more users we have that will understand it and be able to bring their friends in. For me, I haven't been preaching this place yet because I want to see a dead simple sign up process that happens as quick as signing up at any other site.
Once that's the case, I'll be evangelizing and getting all my friends involved. It's just a perfect way to introduce them to crypto, get them participating in the space and having some fun while doing it.
Retention will come when you have community and social circles that you get to engage and interact with on the platform daily. Which brings us back to ease of entry and ui/ux.
In my opinion HF20 is huge. If it can deliver on simplifying entry to the platform that's going to open a lot doors. We'll see how it all goes but there's a lot riding on the next few months as far as what the Steemit team needs to do and how well they execute.
Wow, I agree completely, and let's hope that this upcoming hardfork does in fact fix many of the issues we are all currently experiencing.