Hello Steemians! We’re making some minor changes to the signup process to reduce the number of fraudulent accounts. This takes us one step closer to crafting a world-class onboarding process for Steemit and the Steem Blockchain.
Reducing Signup Costs
Easy onboarding requires solving two challenges: 1. The cost to the network of new signups must be reduced, and 2. The signup process must be streamlined for users.
The changes we have made are designed to address the first problem. The primary contributor to signup costs is fraud from bots and fake accounts. This abuse is expensive in both STEEM and namespace lost.
Real People, No Problem
These changes will have no effect on real people other than requiring a short wait for their account to be activated. Over time, we’ll automate it, aiming for instant activations, but for now this delay helps us separate real users from fake.
With any change, there is a risk of bugs, so we’ll be actively monitoring the process. If you or anyone you know has problems, feel free to use the comments to this post to share them with us so we can resolve any issues as quickly as possible. This is one small step for Steemit, but one big step towards a larger community!
Thanks and Steem On!
- The Steemit Team
Let's keep making this place better and better and better!
I CONCUR
This is very good news.
On the one hand it should help mitigate the problem of people signing up to multitudes of accounts.
On the other it will send the signal that the Steemit team are committed to trying to reduce potential loopholes and gaming of the system.
It is all part of the maturation of the platform.
Please help to share guys:
Yes, it sounds like a necessary change and hopefully it's relatively seamless. In any case, the development is headed in the right direction. Streamlining this sign-up process seems to be a high priority for them, which is good.
#blockchain #cryptocurrency https://t.co/LcxyIHJeHB
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Looking forward to longer term solutions... I am sure we will find one to scale big
Absolutely!
How long is the wait time currently?
I believe accounts are getting approved within one business day.
I think you'll find it is more like a week at the moment...
Yeah, that's what I've heard. Hopefully it is just the initial rollout phase, and they will have it down to one business day soon.
Too long, my brother 2 days and counting, see comment below.
I had to wait 2 weeks to join GAB! I think it is a situational thing - GAB had a lot of hype and buzz at the time so it might make it a different situation.
a friend has been
waiting 6 days...
Very good question. A short wait may not actually a bad thing as long as it is not too long. I remember last winter the fact that there was a waiting list for joining GAB seemed to push demand up - sometimes it creates greater demand - as long as it is not too long.
Good point. I could see that. I just know that when I have tried to sign up for something and there is some kind of delay, I often lose interest and completely forget about it...
It is a tricky balance and could go in either direction. That is why they will be working on automating it and speeding it up.
Yep I agree. It probably is the better option right now between the two. Hopefully it can be automated soon! :)
Out of sight out of mind effect.
I was thinking the same thing... the most extreme example was when GMAIL first came out, as old as that is - back then it was impossible to get an invite, so everybody wanted one!
on the other hand - exclusivity only works when the product is in enough demand. it's a very gentle balance...
I remember that with GMAIL! Yes I think you are right.
Exactly :)
Really appreciate the effort. Proud to be a member of this community. :)
Why not automatically return account creation fee to steemit inc ? I thought that was the whole point of delegating power to create accounts?
Can you describe technically what you are achieving with this account creation delay?
I don't see how this is preventing anything, if I wanted to I could create dozens of accounts, nothing is stopping me from doing it, certainely not the phone verification, its trivial to get dozens of sim cards.
https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/why-users-leave-a-website/
1 rule: Users leave your site when they don’t get what they expect
They expect to register in the minute and are being told to wait days. 90% won't be coming back.
The delay is allowing them to review all of the sign ups and allowing them to separate the 'real' ones from fake ones. An invite system isn't that bad. When I got here in July there was a waiting list. I thought it made it seem like being allowed in was a privilege. I was very excited once I was allowed in.
If they are reviewing sign ups it means that they are also refusing sign ups..Based on what criteria and what are they reviewing exactly? Blockchain tech was meant to be open and free to access for everyone, I really don't like the fact that people have to wait and be approved to have a steemit account.
Steem is open and free to access for everyone. But if you want an account, you need to fund it somehow, which steemit.com does for free. It's basically a gift from them and they can decide to whom and when they give it.
You do not need to use their signup at all. Any existing user can create an account for a friend or acquaintance (or stranger if a suitable deal is made) using the cli wallet. There are a few other ways such as the anonsteem service.
Totally agree. In regards to a "waiting list", I think they should let all accounts enter the system without delay. They can then determine the undesirables and not apply the delegation of steem. Then the undesirables can fund their own accounts. I think too many new users are adversely affected with the current signup logic.
Bad actors/Good actors can simply use the cli to create accounts and fund.
They are concerned about too many names being squatted since even removing the delegation doesn't not release the account/name for reuse. I proposed another approach to signup logic a while back which would allow the accounts to be fully recovered but it was not adopted.
As they said above, it shouldn't be an issue for legitimate users. The blockchain is still open for anyone. There are services like AnonSteem if for whatever reason someone is unable to get a free account via Steemit.com.
Thank you for continual improvements.
Hoping I have your attention, at least briefly, I would like to once again request that you keep a promise made before HF17 and HF18 to make posts editable. Instead of doing that, posts are now un-editable after only 7 days!
Please, for further detail, see here and here, as well as here.
Thank you very much for your consideration and all the hard work that you all put into this platform!
😄😇😄
I helped my brother sign up 2 days ago, he is anxious to join, but still waiting on the account to be created (ryanrizz).
I understand the above, but Steemit will not grow significantly until signups are instant, I hope it is very soon. If there is any big news, Steemit will miss the potential momentum.
I don't think it will take long for them to streamline it. I'm assuming that those who are in a rush might still be able to use AnonSteem though?
I hope not... I just fear the scenario where a flood of users want to join, can't, then forget about it ... we live in an instant world.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll look into it!
Thks for the updates. Moving in the right direction...Roadmap on target. This will only make the community and Steem Blockchain strong.
We agree!
Thank you !! Good to know someone is working on these issues. Also good to know our questions will be answered, and quickly I might add.
You betcha! ;)
Seems like we need flairs, at least for the staff to start with.
How about adding a process on the website that allows us to sign up a friend, fronting the Steem required so Steemit doesn't need to do any verification?
Apparently you can do that via the 'CLI Wallet'. I think there has to be some Steem given to the account. I've not tried this.
I'll probably use this facility if I can get my friends to sign up, but in general something that doesn't have a presence on the website with good UI is going to be basically unused.
Just start selling accounts. It's easy solution to the problem. If somebody doesn't want to wait, they can use other cryptocurrencies to buy an account.
I wrote about this ten months ago: We need an easy way to buy new accounts
that's nice for people who are otherwise familiar with cryptocurrencies. A large portion of our users are learning about crypto through Steemit. So, if you start selling accounts, those who are new to the whole process are going to be gone fast and that would be the majority of the people online. Do you really want to push that market away?
Anyone who has been around the site even a while is aware that there are a lot of individuals holding high numbers accounts simply to attempt to manipulate the system. If a delay getting signed up is the first step towards putting a stop to this behaviour, then so be it.
It's already possible to create new accounts as much as you want if you know how to do it. This is a blockchain where no permissions are asked.
For those who don't want to or can't use other cryptocurrencies, Steemit should give free accounts. But there are lots of people who can buy an account very easily, I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be possible and even encouraged, given how bad the current system is.
That's already available via anonsteem. If you don't like that service, make a new one.
It should be integrated to Steemit.com so that potential users know that there is an alternative way of getting an account.
I'm not saying I don't think it would be a good feature, but steemit.com is a fully-owned product of steemit inc. They are entitled to decide what features they want to offer, considering all manner of factors. Since the concept of paying for accounts is quite obvious, they have clearly decided not to prioritize it or implement it at all for whatever reasons. These could include development but also support, legal, etc.
The blockchain, however, is open and others are free to offer services built upon it. If this blockchain is going to have value beyond just one web site (and if it isn't, then it is useless; running the website off mysql would be cheaper, easier, and more efficient) then the focus needs to shift away from expecting everything to be part of steemit.com and done by steemit inc (especially if Steemit inc doesn't want it or consider it a priority).
I'm glad you guys are taking steps to lower the cost of accounts. My only concern is if it comes at the cost of ease for new users. I find a lot of safety measures to fix a small problem end up costing more in the long run when you frustrate all the honest users. But I'm sure we can do both. I support the steem team, just something to think about as you make changes. As if you don't have enough to think about :p.
We agree completely. Our two primary goals are easy signups and communities. This change is actually a step toward making signing up to steemit.com easy as cake ;) Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for the reply @andrarchy. :) Go team steem... does that sound as cheesy as I think it does?
I dig it!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following category:Congratulations @steemitblog!
Glad to read this! I had two guys with issues to join - getting error messages some of you are aware as we had chats - both trying again today so i will report back! As long as the wait is below 2 days I would say perfect.
Great we can use comment here to get support! Much appreciated team!
PLEASE HELP
https://steemit.com/halo/@halo/help-please-problems-with-signup
WOW! You're JUST NOW figuring this out?
The fact that you've allowed a years worth of fraud on your platform,
makes for a pretty ridiculous set of circumstances.
Perhaps you guys should have spent a little more time on creating a decent identity layer instead of letting tens of thousands of Identity Bot Swarms Fuck up the platform for the rest of us.
Thanks again Steemit Team... please don't start ANY MORE businesses or Blockchains. Let the good folks here learn the lessons of your extreme mismanagement of the platform.
Beta
Oh my god! You are SO Right! I bow to your infinite insight!
I'm so grateful for your Snarky, POINTLESS, one word response.... ASS!
[sarcasm]
GFY!
Thanks for communicating this one small step.
I like the idea of creating some demand by "invite only". This has worked well for others and can be temporary until we're out of beta. I bet posting "I have a steem invite" on Facebook or other social media will drive demand.
A friend signed up Friday May 26th and is still waiting. Is this normal?
great change nice decision.
Very Nice Looking Photo!
From the changes on Github it looks like they get this message:
You will receive an email confirmation soon when you can log your shiny new account - usually less than one business day. Stay tuned!
Several have been in the chat to ask about it, but this may have been updated later. Previously they were getting a nasty error when there was not enough SP to delegate. It's vital to give new users a good experience. Looks like you are on the case.
I'm not sure where is the best place to check the number of active accounts, but it looks like very few were added in the last couple of days. I know some people are actively recruiting, so I hope you are ready for them ;)
Thanks for the update
I totally missed this update. Was a bit disappointed because I told lots of friends to come and join Steemit. At least I understand now, why there is a waitinglist!
Keep up the good work! I will tell my friends about this update and that they just need to wait. Nothing wrong with that ;)
This is good news, recommended a friend to sign up and when access wouldn't granted he went on bantering about a fault in the platform. Thanks for the update, will forward this to him.
Surely a good thing to improve upon. Keep up the good work!
Hi guys, I really support this change. However, I create an account for my mother, the username is @patry, but when I try to enter, I get a sign saying: the user does not exist. It's been more than a day since the activation. Thanks if you can help me.
Hi @steemitblog.
I've just helped a friend signup, went though the entire process, no problem, she received the confirmation text message, which we confirmed, then when she goes to login (with the supplied password) it says
"Username does not exist".
We've waited a few minutes and tried a few times, each time the same error message. There are no errors in the console, just (after the "warning" log) it has these two lines (in the console)
what was her login id?
This is really important. Thanks for posting. My hubby has waited 2.5 weeks and still no password. I signed him up on his email and then again on another email and we waited. Yesterday, I signed him up on his original email and he got the confirmation but no password yet. He is being patient but he is pretty excited to get going. He sees me on here and it drives him nuts! Thanks for the info.
This is a great post to read, thanks for the update. I have a friend that I recommended to Steemit and they applied to your new process of application and they were denied/rejected. I have no idea why that would be as they have never heard of Steemit until they had spoken with me and they were only signing up for one account.
I also have a new friend who has recently applied yesterday, we confirmed their email address and we are now awaiting the second step in the application process for them to have an account to start blogging and joining our wonderful steemit community.
Any insight or information that you have would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
-@verbal-d
Ss
Super
safe and real steemit for everyonekeep it up @steemitblog
I have been trying to create an account for my girlfriend and I keep getting the
"This phone number has already been used"
message when we know this isn't true. When we try again with another number it says the email has been used before.
We have been clicking all the required links in the email and sending the correct SMS codes, but still no dice.
I can't be the only one with these problems. Is anybody else experiencing this?
Hi, Steemit Team, I have a suggestion for you, I dont know is it the right way for it but I upload it to utopian. Linked here
I'm newbie too and its hard for me to adapt the community or components at steem so many readings and I have to check them again and again. I want a button for saving this posts. And I think It feature could be use for local moderators pick advisory post for newbies. And this feature help users to really use / consult other users post. Sorry for disturbing <3
I am having trouble creating my dtube account, when I click to create a new account on dtube it takes me to create a steemit account, since I already have it I sign in, BUT by being sign in, am asked to sign out to continue with the account creation. Any buddy can help with this???
steemconneeeeeeect