This is something many of us have tried to wrap our heads around for the past 2-3 years. It is extremely frustrating on my part seeing people miss out on decentralised social media given its numerous benefits which including earning. I was speaking to one of my friend who I onboarded some moments back. She hasn't made a post since she last posted an introduction post. However, she does have time to post on medium and twitter.
I believe this issue of retention and onboarding is psychological and not as apparent as we might think. I have come up with different ways to explain but have also countered my own arguments. Below are some of my points:
MOST PEOPLE COME HERE FOR THE MONEY
I think this is the most obvious fact. Most people are here for the money/crypto. Most of our policies are geared towards protecting and improving the value of the hive coin--hive. The coin is more important than the platform and that is what we sell to most people. When these people reach here with the expectation of making money but fail to actualise that in a few weeks they leave. They leave because they have options. Social media isn't a novelty. There are hundreds of platforms out there which more intuitive interfaces, easy onboarding schemes, etc. People have alternatives where they are already invested or established. These other platforms might not offer monetary benefits but they tend to have a more holistic social experience that keeps your average user hooked.
MOST NEW USERS HAVE LITTLE OR NO BLOGGING EXPERIENCE.
I have often said this in the past, hive is a blogging platform, not a social media site. They are two different things. For a blogging platform like this, you need content, for social media you need your thoughts and attention as you are mostly reacting to things--trending news and other people's thoughts. It is not the same with blogs where you are meant to share in details ideas and concepts. There are few persons here who blogged prior to their involvement in hive. I personally managed my poetry and creativity writing page before I joined hive and I took it seriously. I would write and spend quality time sharing my posts to people, conceiving them to read and give me feedback. This is how bloggers operate. Coming here with that type of mentality has kept me consistent for two years and yes i have earned significantly during this period which has also been a good motivation. Take one out of the two elements and i would have quit a long time ago
ENGAGEMENT ISN'T SO GREAT
I will attribute that to the fact that people aren't creating content others want to consume. Usually, I get my highest number of comment when I talk about hive or anything crypto-related because that's clearly what people care about here, which brings into question of diversity on the chain. It can be said that the interest of most people here is homogenous. This has been a mitigating factor to our growth. All attempts to change this have failed. The creation of communities was supposed to solve this problem but it has been misconstrued and this makes onboarding difficult as must new users care little about cryptocurrency.
THERE IS JUST SO MUCH TO LEARN
No other blogging or social platform burdens you with the responsibility of controlling your data and account. This is what is expected of every user. You're saddled with the responsibility of protecting your keys and partaking in governance. So it is fair to say that the average internet user cares little about data security because it is hard work especially when all they want to do is post content.
These for me are subtle elements that collectively contribute to the stagnation we suffer, which i do not consider a bad thing. I have said this numerous times: hive will not thrive as a blogging or social media platform. It is an integral part of blockchain and it offers educational benefits which make it easy for new users to familiarise themselves with the nitty-gritty of cryptocurrency, but it cannot be the thing that takes hive as a coin to the next level.
Suggestion:
KEEP OLD CONTENT CREATORS HAPPY.
If they create high-quality content that can at least drive traffic (which seems not to matter that much). There is little that is being done to monetise traffic to the chain which is an important part of the social media business which makes me wonder if we are really interested in this business. We should be making money from traffic no matter how small; we need to encourage content creators to branch out to reach a wider audience. It is important to create value outside the chain.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
Strong communities played an important part in our onboarding and retention in the past. Most of that is gone. There are fewer active communities, thus we have seen decline activities from active users and also poor retention of new users. So major stakeholders should work in creating communities or supporting communities. I am currently working with some Nigerians in building a Nigerian community and i believe more initiatives like this should be encouraged. People need a sense of belonging and that only happens when people are part of groups they identify with.
KEEP TRYING NEW THINGS
No one actually knows all the answers. Maybe we may not like to admit but this is still an experimental project. Innovation is key. We need to keep trying new things. We have a small but active community and I believe keep innovating within a reasonable time frame we will achieve our goal
