I had an interesting conversation this past week with a member of my Bitcoin Bully program that woke me up to some truths about the STEEM blockchain....
Inside Bitcoin Bully there is an entire section of training and education dedicated to STEEM. I'm trying to attract the 'new' crypto enthusiast and curious entrepreneur to get them excited for the big potential that can be found not only in this new and expanding industry but more specifically - STEEM
Yeah I'm a fan boy, no hiding that :)
Anyways....I have introduced a number of people to STEEM and sure, they are attracted to the 'potential rewards' found by creating and curating content. Heck I even play to that and tell them that I will upvote their first posts once they take the plunge and start to create some content here.
It's been working so far and from what I can tell...The members are excited!
However this week, one of them who joined a few months ago said something that made me stop in my tracks and question things a little bit more...
While encouraging them to take part daily, engage and create content this member basically said (and I'm paraphrasing) ...
"That's great Jon...But why should I put in all this effort...For what? 15 cents?"
Now at first glance, I was taken back because that's roughly what my 100% upvote is worth. Was this a poke at how low my upvotes where worth even though I had spent thousands on investing to power up my STEEM...???
My ego was crushed.....lol
But digging a little further I came to the realization that this member didn't see the value of producing content where they may only make a few pennies for each post they create....
Ahhhh....This is the battle STEEM will have...Forever!
Are we here to create content and curate awesome stuff because it's a social media platform? Or is it just to make some money...
Here's the Jon G. Olson STEEM Fanboy reply:
"We should be concerned about creating awesome content! The rewards will show up if we stay the course and add value to the blockchain...."
And here's the reality....
People are here FIRST...For the money and rewards. Like it or not, we are NOT Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. If you take away the rewards, people would rather just stick to the centralized platforms because like Kevin said in his video....That's where their friends and families are.
And sure, we tell people to come and join Steemit but have you seen how long it takes these days to actually get signed up? Day or even weeks in some cases to get approved....
However...Something happens to each of us that has fallen in love with the potential of STEEM...
We get sick and tired of the centralized way of doing things
We want to feel like we are a part of something bigger and not just a cog in the wheel of a corporation looking for profits.
We want to own our content and produce things we are proud of and hope it helps deliver value.
We don't want to be censored. We want to be able to share our thoughts without the fear of having them banned or removed because we didn't fall in line with the norms of society.
We start to fall in love with STEEM......And we never look back!
Yeah, this place isn't perfect. Sure there are plenty of reasons why people will still use Facebook over Steemit. But there is something bigger at play here...There is something very human about it all.
While your rewards may only be 15 cents right now...If you look at the bigger picture and potential future for this blockchain I think you'll agree....We are in a great place at the perfect time in human history.
And remember, it's only about 2 years old....We still haven't learned how to walk properly yet! Imagine 2 or 5 years from now...That is what excites me!
So I'll let the Fan boy end by saying...
"Stay the course! Engage and create daily! And that 15 cents (or 15 dollars) won't be the ONLY reason you are using this platform....You are using it because it's got the potential to be the evolution of social media!"
