It seems that interest in Steemit has been steadily going up lately. That means there will be people who would like to create an account. But unfortunately that's not very easy right now which is seriously blocking our growth.
Steemit.com should give three options for getting an account:
- Get a free account from Steemit. That means waiting in the list like it's now.
- If you already know somebody who uses Steem, you can ask them to create an account for you. This requires a tool in Steemit.com that can be used to easily create a new account.
- Buy an account. Currently there is AnonSteem, but we need more cryptocurrencies accepted, preferably even fiat-currencies.
When a new user buys an account, they could also pay some extra and get more SP immediately. It would be very easy way to invest in Steem. Even if they don't, the SP needs to come from somewhere. That means more demand for steem.
Why Steemit.com has to do this? Isn't AnonSteem and SteemConnect enough? NO, because Steemit.com is the place where new users will come first. The signup page needs to have these three alternatives clearly presented and explained. Otherwise most of the new potential users won't know there are also alternatives for waiting weeks on the list and getting frustrated.
I really can't understand why Steemit Inc insists that the only way for new users to join is to get a free account from them. There is big demand so many of potential users will be perfectly fine with paying something for the account if it means they will get it immediately.
And there is this little extra benefit: When a new user invests his own money, he will take the project more seriously. The psychological effect between paid and free is quite big.
Yep its crazy. I got few known people to get here - nothing.
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I think they are facing some scalability issues with approving the new accounts mainly due to the large influx of people who have recently learnt about crypto, blockchain and steemit.
Yeah, but they could remove large part of the problem by selling accounts.
Couldn't agree more.
The onboarding process is a bit worrisome. I really hope, like they said in their blog this month, that they've figured out a solution for going mainstream with the platform.
And I totally agree that they should inform signups that there are paid methods to skip the waitlist. Even though crypto-paying users will be a tiny minority, all things considered.
Perhaps Steemit Inc. would rather vet all new users at this point in the network's growth.
It took a couple days for me to get approved for my account, so for me a was a little wait. As for the steem I bought most of it from Poloniex, then converted it to steem power. If you do it that way its cheaper, because I noticed when I was going to purchase steem on steemit, it was at a premium. That's a bummer that users will have to wait a bit, but maybe there a reason? Possibly a scaling issue or other unseen things that are in development as we are still in beta. Great insight on Steemit, always good to hear a little growing pains was beginning to think I was in an Utopia.
Cheers
I don't understand what is the reason to make users wait. Of course free accounts shouldn't be given to everybody because spammers and hoarders will get them.
Currently Steemit is giving away free steem with new accounts, because an account needs certain amount of Steem Power (which is locked steem). If Steemit sold accounts, they could give a little discount for anybody who wants to buy some extra SP when they create the account, so it's always cheaper than market price.
Honestly I don't know why, but being a software architect there always unseen mountains and valleys to climb before a great product is accomplished. I like the idea selling the accounts.
AFAIK this is more a business decision rather than a software problem.
Kinda agree with samupaha.
I have waited them for a week for my account.
Maybe there are some reason behind like avoiding slower the steemit network.
But I sure they will get the registration faster in the future.So, just wait and see how steem evolve!
I think it would be reasonable for the registration form to go into detail where they are getting traffic from. An option for “I was referred by a friend” that once checked open a txt box for the user to type in Steemit user name. Once the form has been completed and sent the name can be checked against the database where if it comes back yes, there is a member by this name that member receives a notification under the comments section on their panel. It then could simply state like a post “username has requested you vouch that they are a real human and you know them. By up voting this post you agree you know this person. ” Accounts that get up voted by that person then get flagged to be moved up in line.
That's a great idea
A little bit easier way would be give existing users coupon codes which they can give to their friends. When a friend creates an account, they use the code to verify that "user X trusts me".
Steemit could give codes for long-time users with reputation score more than 60. That would prevent abuse quite well.
It took me about 2-3 days to get an account. This makes it a little hard to refer friends and family to join the community. An early referral reward system could be cool.
Referrals are definitely something we want to do.
Wonderful !
That will definitely give incentive to the big youtubers to jump on board and bring over their massive network of followers ! The future looks bright for steem.
I think that the idea of having another Steem user.. 'endorse' you is a great idea. Maybe the user would have to be over a certain level (maybe 45 or 50), but I think it's a great idea. I have friends who want to join right now, but the queue to join is just too long.
I am guessing that the reason it takes so long is to check the authenticity of the account somehow? To prevent bots or something?
Yeah, Steemit Inc wants to check that they are not giving away accounts for bots like they have done in the past.
But if they sold accounts, checking for bots wouldn't be needed because the account creation would require money.
Yeah, that's a great point. A paywall prevents bots, and I think that's why the idea of endorsements could be so great!
i heard some get in after a few days while some still continue to wait. is there any rhyme or reason why some get in without too much delay while others continue to wait?
We process the whole queue periodically. Nobody has to wait very long, and everyone gets an email notifying them when they are approved.
People waited their whole life for an account. A few more days isn't going to break them. :)
I get a tad concerned when those with $ are given the right to move to the head of the line, or the chance to dictate. Those in power who have swam up through the pond at least have a memory of what they endured to arrive at the surface..
It's already like that. There are AnonSteem where you can buy accounts and SteemConnect where existing user can create account for somebody else. I think it would be fair to tell about this for everybody.
Steem account is cryptoproperty and it has value. Currently Steemit Inc is donating accounts for new users. That is of course great, but as long as there is so much demand that people will buy accounts even if they could get them for free, Steemit should absolutely sell accounts.
While it was a bit annoying the big thing at this point is securing a good base of users, and it's really nice to have good quality users rather than tons of people who really have no passion or level-head when it comes to posting and reporting others.
I think we might get a better userbase if everybody had to pay for their accounts. It would mean that only those who are seriously interested in Steem would join.
I have been trying to create a second account for my girlfriend (she has probably made a mistake when copying the password), and it has been mission impossible so far. As the system does not let users to create a second free account, I had to purchase 6 steem and use the SteemConnect tool that is available from busy.org. Unfortunately, there's some kind of a problem with the tool, and I always end up getting the same error "Opps, something went wrong".
The whole process is discouraging for some of the people that want to register.
Yeah, that sums up pretty well my frustration, too. I'd love to see everybody getting their accounts as easily as possible, but currently the system is too hard.
I got in touch with the guys from busy.org and it turned out that I was trying to create a new username that starts with a capital letter.
I got in less than a day. It was quick and I am new.
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Took me 5 days before I got let in.
It took me about 24 hours from registering to accessing my account. When I got mail conformation of approval then had some issues (the system was reporting some error) login in for first time. But was able to log in today with no problems.
Your ideas are really good!
I wish I had the option to buy more SP at the beginning!
Are you aware that you can buy additional Steem or Steem Power on your Wallet page?
maybe they need to control the growth and see how the new users and steemians are adjusting and doing on the platform. There was reports of redfish.
I don't see any need for that. Steem is open platform and anybody can use it. If Steemit Inc really wants to control the growth, they should tell everyone why they are doing it.
Recently, many subscribers seem to be behind schedule.
As you mentioned, joining a paid account is also a good idea.
Yeah, hope this will be corrected to offer new comers the ease of use in the platform.
I'm new and my account got approved in 1 day... not sure what you're talking about.
There are a lot of new users who haven't been as lucky as you.
Are you sure about this? My account approved in less 24 hours?
It's great to help one another out and have others steemit with you ! It took me about 4 days along with my friend
maybe something will come out of this post. Maybe it's about retaining ownership. Who "owns"steem?
The problem is with Steemit.com which is the most used interface for the Steem blockchain. Pretty much every newbie who wants to use Steem will come to Steemit.com. If Steemit.com presents only one way for them to get an account, they won't learn that there are other and faster ways to join Steem.
It took me six days to get approved so I agree with this post.
One thing to consider though is that if they start charging premiums to get approved quickly it may seem like they are just trying to get users money by onboarding the paying members quickly and letting the free users go by the way side.
This could over-all be very damaging to the platform as most users prefer not to pay for internet services until they know they have value. I think a "pay-to-play" system might actually hurt them.
There needs to be some solution to the long wait times, but I think in the end it may just be that steemit needs to bring in more staff to expedite the verification process or find a way to automate it a little bit more.
We are not interested in charging money for accounts. The waitlist exists for us to manage abuse of the free account system, as well as a way for us to manage the allocation of very significant amounts of STEEM and Steem Power required to create tens of thousands of accounts.
We were wasting huge amounts of money (to bot signups) when creation was instant. That abuse is almost entirely gone now.
WHY?! I just don't get it.
It's like saying: "We are not interested in paying customers."
If Steemit sold the stake you already have, you would get more money to hire developers. If Steemit bought steem for SP from exchanges, it would create more demand for steem and support the price.
I see only benefits.
Oh, and one thing that I forgot from the OP. I have a suspicion that many of those who would benefit the most from uncensorable publishing platform are also reluctant giving any information about themselves to some firm. For those people buying an account with Monero or Zcash would be optimal.
It doesn't only support Steemit Inc but the whole community. If steem was bought from the markets, it would create more demand for steem and that way benefit everybody who owns steem.
I think this could be mitigated quite well by explaining that a Steem account is valuable cryptoproperty. It's backed by steem tokens which have value. Every account necessarily owns some steem because it's required when the account is created.
For those who don't want to pay there should be an option to get to the waiting list for a free account.
My account was approved with in <24hrs a few days ago, so there doesn't appear to be much method to the madness.
It took me a few days to get accepted when I applied, thought I did something wrong at first haha
I registered a few hours ago and I was approved immediately, even before verifying my email address. For my wife it took some 24 hours or so.
I agree - there were so many scams where people paid to get in, but Steem is legit and people won't mind paying - a thing that is paid for is more dear than the one that is free.
I like your idea.
Maybe they're working on the problem. An announcement by steemit would help.
For some weird reason they want to give only free accounts to new users and not let them buy their own accounts. They are working to make the process easier and faster, but I'm afraid it's not enough. Sooner or later they have to admit that it's too expensive to do it like that and start selling accounts.
thanks for the reply. I hope it gets worked out.
There are pros and cons on this topics, it has been a big race for the blockchain, the cryptomarket itself and especially for steem. Protecting the steemit-environment is important, growth will continue nevertheless.