STEEM is not a social media platform.
Sure, there is some social media on it, and to date, it is predominantly social media, but that is changing, and will continue to change as more and more people become aware of STEEM and what it can ultimately do.
Yes, a good majority of us use the social media side of STEEM on a regular basis. And yes, we're trying to earn some rewards. However, it's easy to get caught up in what's happening, or not happening, on the social side of things, and lose sight of what STEEM actually is.
It's a blockchain, with a cryptocurrency by the same name, that allows for all kinds of things to be built on it and/or connected to it. Not just blog posts, video posts, picture posts, upvotes or the like. Virtually anything that you can think of in the real world has a potential home on STEEM.
That means true commerce. Not what we do to earn rewards every day on the social sites, but actual use of STEEM or even SBDs trading hands. Right now, the commerce on STEEM looks like bidbots, or SP leasing, or the Neoxian bank, or contest prizes (the ones that are still STEEM or SBD based). It should have much more than that, and very little to do with the social side. In fact, the social side may very well feed into the commerce.
That's what STEEM is ultimately meant for. Right now, however, too many of us seem to lose sight of that. We see it as a social platform. We see it as an investment platform. And in doing so, we often see those two as working at cross purposes.
It's hard not to. Especially when the reward system isn't really set up to reward what everyone always says it's supposed to reward—quality content. It does it a little better when people actually use the social platform as it was intended, but even so, it's not that effective.
There's much more of a speculative aspect to the way the reward system works than anything. Curation in and of itself is a tangled mess of upvotes sizes, who upvotes, when they upvote, how many upvote, rather than being a simple allocation of rewards. Many of us don't even try that hard for ROI on our curation and are happy to get what we get back. However, there are plenty of others who want as much ROI as they can, and they develop as many strategies as possible. Which is fine, but unfortunately, they seem to be the ones pushing the dialogue when it comes to that kind of thing.
And frankly, it tends to minimize what STEEM really is.
If there were a billion STEEM worth of commerce happening on a monthly basis on the chain, social media would be a tiny part of it. It would have to be. The reward system isn't designed for that. Why do you think there's a set amount of inflation every day allocated for the reward pool? Why do you suppose it's shrinking every so often? Why do people say it'll get harder to make STEEM when there are tons of people trying to use the social side?
The social side is just the first step, to get people here. You and I. The next step is meant to have businesses showing up—not dApps that depend on the reward pool just like we do—but ones that sell products and services for good old STEEM. What happens to the social side, when, if, the other gets rolling is anyone's guess, but we'll probably look back on these days quite fondly, even with all its drama.
So, I guess if people want to keep arguing over payout splits and curves and downvotes, etc., that's fine, but we're not going to get to STEEM mooning that way. Why? Because social media, compared to many other things, does not hold much value.
There. I said it. As much as I love creating, and as much as I hate to say it, blogging on STEEM is not going to pay the bills, or even provide me a nice retirement. Getting businesses selling stuff in STEEM and people buying in STEEM, however, will.
So, those who want to continue to sell the STEEM platform as a place where you can post and get paid, go right ahead, but this is what you get. A depressed STEEM value, way underperforming its potential as a token because no one really sees that much value in social media. It's something you do in your spare time after work to catch up with the family, friends, maybe the news, and if you're into trolling, you do that, too.
Anyone can do it. And when anyone can do it, well, it loses value.
Don't get me wrong. I do believe there are some talented people here. I've watched some amazing and moving videos of people singing and performing. I've seen some great art, beautiful photography and some thought provoking posts. I've also seen people sharing their lives with others. To me, all of that holds value.
I don't think of that as social media, though, as much as I think of it as creativity. More like Patreon than Facebook, or Twitter.
How about we work more on creating sources of income, rather than fighting over the dwindling amounts we already have? How about we build businesses rather than another been there done that form of social media that people are always losing faith in.
Maybe we can stop demonizing one another over preferences and etiquettes, and start building big ideas and truly fulfilling dreams.
I've not been immune to getting into the middle of the discussions when it comes to the social side of things. That's where I happen to be the most invested, and where I would ultimately like to make my niche. But if I'm truthful about it, there are others who are already here and many more who are not that can create as well or better than I can.
I'd suggest, if you haven't yet, reading this post—Steemit's Evil Plan for Cryptocurrency World Domination—by none other than Dan Larimer himself. It was posted to the STEEM blockchain on July 6, 2016, so around the time that the blockchain really went public.
This is the vision of STEEM. This is the 30,000 foot view. The big picture. We need to stop messing with a few puzzle pieces as if they were all there is and start looking for ways to move onto the next step.
I know some are. Unfortunately, too many have ran into snags and fallen apart before they ever got started. Some are actually doing quite well, and if they play their cards right, will become major entities in and of themselves. We need more of that. Not more social media. We're the first step, not the end all of everything.
Let's take the next step.
Image source—Pixabay
