A few months back I started a Facebook group by the name of Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins with the intention of creating a community transition page, leading the masses from Facebook to Steemit, whist upvoting and educating as I go.
As the moderator of this group one of my jobs is to accept peoples’ requests to join it. As such I have the opportunity to read the details under their name and I even click on their page to check them out before hitting the accept button.
On Facebook, the details under their name usually includes their location.
What have I noticed?
Two things are clear:
The number of people asking to join this group is growing exponentially.
The vast majority of these people are from Africa. I would say around 80% of them come from various different African nations. Though Ghana is the clear front-runner by a fair old margin.
So, let’s examine this…
One of the main advantages of cryptocurrency is that it can be used in place of a bank account, and ANYONE can join.
Banks all over the world have been tightening up their application process ensuring that only those who have a permanent address, verifiable telephone number & proof of steady income can become a part of their system.
This makes it extremely hard for a large proportion of the world to get a bank account at all. And even harder for those who manage to sneak their way in by the skin of their teeth, to avoid the inevitable fines and charges they are going to experience without a consistently steady income.
Bear in mind that the 8 richest people have as much wealth as the entire bottom half of the population of this planet! The Guardian estimated four days ago that one in nine people will go to bed hungry tonight. Meaning that there are rather a lot of poor people out there.
And do you think those people have bank accounts? I think not.
But now, for the first time in history there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them.
And that light comes in the form of Bitcoin and Steemit.
That's me sitting on the bank of the Lower Zambezi river in Zambia, 2011
The thing about Africans
I have lived in Africa, in Kenya & Zambia and in South Africa too. And I can tell you that Africans are pretty amazing people. They have experienced some seriously tough times over the years through oppression, originating from both inside and outside of their country.
They are incredibly resilient, creative, hard-working and for the most part, fun loving community members.
And this is why Steemit lends itself so perfectly to them.
I cannot say for sure why Ghana is the lead nation for Steemit but I welcome them all with open arms to my group.
Mobile Devices
The only current problem as I see it, is that if you are poor, you are unlikely to have a computer. And as we all know, Steemit takes a fair bit of dedicated computer time. Especially as a newcomer.
And whilst other platforms are supported by mobile apps, Steemit is not yet at this point.
Thankfully the road map announcement a few days ago promised that we would have such apps before the year is out.
And this will increase the number of potential users for sure.
Just recently the percentage of people who use their phones to look at the internet became greater than the percentage of those who use computers. And it looks set to continue on this growth path.
So clearly, the Steemit apps will be a complete game-changer!
The temperamental 3G connection
Most poor people with a computer are currently running their internet off a wifi hotspot created by their phone because there is no cable option available for them. And they are lucky if they have a 3G connection, let alone a 4G! And of course there is the additional expense of using this system.
My experience with this platform whilst running the internet off my iphone has not been good at all. I don't know why but more often than not, the Steemit 'wheel of doom' just turns and turns without correctly refreshing the page, permitting me to continue doing what I want to do. Or I get a red error message saying 'INVALID_STATE_ERR : Pausing to reconnect websocket' preventing me from posting my comment or article.
I have spent hours staring at that wheel, trying everything to get the process moving again. Restarting computer, restarting phone, restarting browser. I've even tried buying different sim cards here in central Bali to resolve the problem, but to no avail. That's just how it is. The less busy times of day tend to be better, so I do the majority of my internet work at night now. Which doesn't always go down too well with my other half and baby, as I need a siesta in the afternoon.
So please Steemit, pretty please will you take this information on board and have a look at fixing the problem? The particularly frustrating thing is that all the other social media sites seem to work just fine.
Why would this be I wonder?
Perhaps someone can help me with this?
Snapped this beauty in Zambia on my 2011 trip.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my words. I am most grateful to those of you who digested this entire piece and if you leave a comment I promise to follow & upvote you whenever the 'wheel of doom' permits!
Go to @Good-Karma blog, he has eSteem for mobile phones... like Steemit it is newer and still has some quirks but as I travel a lot it helps me a bit.
The interface needs to improve in both online and with the app for mass adoption, but it has begun.
Many thanks. I will check that out immediately.
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TOP! up and resteemed**
Thanks bro :) Much appreciated.
welcome
Steemit has great potential to empower people in poorer countries. I hope to see Steem (or Steem Dollars) become an accepted currency. Being able to use it on low bandwidth or intermittent connections is vital.
Vital indeed. Currently there is something going wrong somewhere coz it is a nightmare to use here in Bali on 3G. Improvements coming soon I hope :)
I'm spoilt by having good internet at work and home
I too have been spoilt all these years and completely took it for granted. But now that I live in Bali...
i didnt know that steemit is attracting people from africa.intersting to hear
Yes, it surprised me too. And really interesting to see Ghana at the top! Who knows why.
Because In Steemit , We do have many Cheetahs
Good one! Made me smile. Thanks for that. Followed :)
Great post . Bless
Followed you my friend. Thanks for the comment. Looking forward to seeing what you have to offer :)
Great! same here. Follow you. Peace!
The same is happening with Latin and South America. The Spanish speaking community is rocking on the platform.
Fantastic! Didn't know that. Thanks :)
Tweeted on @Steemit
Awesome. Many thanks :)
It sounds like there could be selection bias due to your own association with Africa, as the maintainer of the group. I have seen some users from Ghana and Nigeria but there is also a more noticeable surge in users from Aceh, Indonesia.
No bias. Just my observations as moderator. I let everyone in. Just like to check them out a little first. Interesting you have seen a surge from Indonesia. I have been pushing it pretty hard here, with everyone who speaks english :) Followed
I don't mean that you are being biased in your selection, I mean that Facebook may be biasing who the group is presented to (and therefore who asks to join) based on the info they have about you as well as previous members of the group. That is how Facebook tends to work.
Ah, I see! Wow, didn't know FB worked like that. Interesting. Thanks.
Great piece. Upvoted, tweeted and following. Thanks for sharing. Stephen
Thanks very much Stephen. Much appreciated :)
No problem. You are very welcome. Stephen
Great piece of content, in bitcoin system I learned a lot folks from Nigeria recently too. Agreeing with most of your points! # esteem is a great mobile app you should try
Thanks. I wasn't aware there was a functional mobile app already. I will check that out :)
Working good for me with only a few bugs