Hello steemians,
in this article we will be taking an indepth review on steemit, its future, current problems and possibly solutions which might make it succeed.
I feel bad most times when i go through the daily feeds on steemit and find so many people on the platform with so limited knowledge of the totality of this platform, i can say barely 30% of the entire members here are truly aware of what the potentials of this platform possess or working inline with the whitepapers and vision of the steemit platform, the remaining 70% are just here to make quick money or probably see the platform as a means of getting rich quick.
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Well let me burst your bubble steemit is not a get-rich-quick ponzi scheme, in fact if you are among those who got in here with that mentality, you will be frustrated after few weeks or if probably if you have a high perseverance maybe you would last up a month and then finally quit it, its the hard truth.
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We can literally not talk about steemit without the underlying blockchain on which it runs on which is STEEM. And also you would agree with me that one doesnt go robbing a bank without first studying the blueprints of that bank or carrying out a detailed survey of his target... (and before you'all start thinking deep, lol, i havent robbed a bank before, hahahahahahah, too many hollywood movies, hahaha).
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Hence we cant really maximize the full potentials or work effectively in line with the true concept of the STEEM without first going through the steem whitepaper and understanding the foundation and purpose on which it was built.
WHAT IS STEEM?
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as defined on the whitepaper
Steem is a blockchain database that supports community building and social interaction with cryptocurrency rewards. Steem combines concepts from social media with lessons learned from building cryptocurrencies and their communities. Steem is the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of individuals who make subjective contributions to its community.
It is also paramount to be aware that unlike most cryptocurrency, Steem is a currency of inflation, this means the total supply of steem increases over time(the inflation rate is set to decrease a rate of 0.5% per annum and would only stop after 20.5years from the 16th hard fork in december 2016 which is est. 19years from now), most people may not agree or like the idea as scarcity in general increases the value of a commodity, however i believe based on the purpose on which the steem platform was built, this would not pose any problem to its value over time ceteres paribus , as from the birth time of the 16th hard fork in december 2016 the population of the steem community has increased immensely to over a million active users which is less than 2 years from the initiation of the steem blockchain.
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If the community growth continues at this pace then it would be great for the currency value as there would be an optimum demand for the currency to fit its inflation rate and also because cryptocurrencies have a network effect(more users make it more useful and of more value)
HOW DOES THE STEEM COMMUNITY PAYS/REWARDS ITS USERS.
As earlier said steem is a currency of inflation and because of this new tokens are created at an annual rate of 9.5% per year (from the time of the 16th hardfork in december 2016), from a rough calculation it implies that about roughly 22million Steem Token are created every year and out of these newly generated steems 75% of the total steem created are transferred to the reward pool, 15% are awarded to those who HODL Steem Power in their wallet and the remain 10% goes to the Witnesses
From the total percentage which goes to the reward pool, 75% is thereafter distributed between authors and 25% between the curators .
THE FUTURE WITH STEEM
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In the future i believe more decentralized social media platforms are going to evolve after the likes of steem however Steem would stand out among others and may probably be the GOOGLE of today in the future, this is because of two major reasons which i see,
1.A CHANGE IN MONETIZATION OF CONTENT: Most bloggers or content makers usually leverage the monetization of their works through countless adverts. Most if not all are fully aware the rate at which the ads could totally diminish viewers interest or make it less appealing, however due to the need of them getting adequate financial reward for their post or as a means of survival they have to monetize their content one way or the other.
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Sometimes, we encounter this while watching youtube videos and then an annoying advert pops up in display which must be watched for a certain time before the video continues, sometimes this happens also on most blogs while reading and you click a link and get redirected to another page or website entirely. This is totally annoying and reduces the satisfaction one ought to have gained from the content..
This is the part where steemit or other steem platforms like dtube comes in, with steemit authors or content makers need not monetize their content via ads that are not needed by their viewers as the platform has been designed in such a way where quality content makers get financially rewarded directly from the blockchain via community members through upvotes/likes of the post(proof of knowledge).
This would help both authors and viewers get maximum satisfaction from the content been made.
2. PROMOTION OF QUALITY CONTENT: Everyone gets motivated to do more when he/she is been appreciated for his/her efforts.
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With the blockchain reward system of steem more users and authors of quality original contents would be raised as they know the appreciation of their works would yield more financial returns and also the concept of the timestamp on the blockchain would make them feel safe against plagiarism or stolen content. (in the future the blockchain timestamp would be a valid evidence and proof in the court)
Everyone loves and needs money, what's best than getting it by doing what you love and as well developing your mental health.
CURRENT PROBLEMS OF STEEM AND WHAT COULD HINDER OR DELAY ITS SUCCESS
The major problem i see here on steem is the high consciousness of users to MONEY rather than in promoting quality contents and also the high usage of BOTS. Most authors in the platform with low quality contents get their post trending due to the use of bots however on the other hand authors with high quality content never get to be heard and possibly discouraged due to lack of finance to promote their post
note: the use of bots is not entirely bad as some good authors use this as well to stay top of the page and reach out to more
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However the steem system has almost been taken over by bot that even the top users known as the whales fully depends upon, we find it hard to see a post get highly rewarded without it using the bidbots or purchased votes. We see those with a high level of steempower instead of contributing and curating other users with quality content, they end up selling their votes to bots just so they can earn more daily rewards,
All these are centered to the high consciousness of the monetary reward while Neglecting the true purpose of the project, if things should go on the current way a lot of people would give up on the project and this great dream might only turn out to be a mirage and a mere fantasy.
THE MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN INCENTIVE OR MOTIVATION FOR YOUR WORKS AND NOT THE PURPOSE OF YOUR CONTENT.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE CURRENT PROBLEM
Personally i think a reduced level on the usage of bots would really go a long way in helping the community, most especially in the concept of vote selling and self voting, when people are not allowed to sell their vote they probably might reconsider giving it out to other users with quality content and of better curation value.
More Selfless or Delegated Curators: its not really easy to spend time going through the loads of blogs and daily content on steemit, however if a large number of high steem power or delegated curators can be voted for which could possibly curate at least 10-20 quality post each on a daily basis, we could see over 500 quality content authors been rewarded for their efforts; this will inturn help promote the community and also motivate the authors to do more.
One of the curator or witness i do admire is that of bryan under @themarkymark via the @buildawhale services, the buildawhale curation digest reviews daily post via their services and curate the top 10 best quality content as seen by their various curators. A service like this made across the entire steem network with more delegated curators would really be a massive boost .
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Account Registration: This has a way of affecting the mentality of the users, most especially those who get registered via the purchase of an account or by paying the registration fee. If steem really wants to excel as a social media then its account should have an express opening for all and not tied to the paying of fees to get registered, also the express account opening would increase the population of members and also make it easy for a non steemian who sees or appreciate your works to register and participate in voting or contributions via comments.
We all must as well play our individual role to make steemit a better community for us all neglecting if those with higher power do the needful or not together we can make this place a better and more rewarding community for everyone.
WHATS THE FUTURE OF STEEM TO YOU AND HOW CAN WE MAKE IT BETTER???
THANKS FOR READING
Regards
Nicholas Ilechie
