I find this interesting ... they changed the curation / author rewards to 50/50 from 75/25 now.
I posted the following post a few weeks back and that move didn't seem all too popular. However, if it leads to better curation I still believe 50/50 is a fair balance.
EDIT
It was brought to my attention by @smooth that the 50/50 refers to the payout being split between STEEM/SP/SBD and not the author/curator rewards.
Although, my stance still stands I think a 50/50 change for curator/author rewards is more balanced and would foster better curating. Of course bots remain a contested issue.
My post about it is below
As I write this today I have been on Steemit close to two months. During those two months, I feel I have gained a decent understanding of the platform.
Over the course of the past week, I have found myself doing some critical thinking.
By now most of us are fully aware of the drastic spike increase in July of Steem price and the ever slow decline since then.
I want Steemit to succeed long term and I now believe part of the solution in ensuring Steemits future success is changing the curation and author reward system.
Originally when a post was created about this a few weeks ago by @calaber24p I vehemently disagreed with such a foolish idea. The post I am referring to can be found here. https://steemit.com/steemit/@calaber24p/revamping-curation-is-the-way-to-increase-steem-power-demand.
After all the author was suggesting I as a writer take a 25% cut in pay. What kind of nonsense is that I was thinking. I won't lie to you all here, I love Steemit, but I also love to make money. Writing is part of my lively hood, so one could naturally see how I might disagree with such a seemingly greedy proposal.
After much thought, my own personal bias set aside, and some insightful comments from @smooth in the comments of that post I have now changed my mind more align with the 50/50 split proposal. I might even venture into something lower for author rewards if there are rewards for posts forever, which I will touch on shortly.
I mean if more people are voting and curating it could actually mean a bigger reward even with a 25% reduction to a 50/50 split.
50/50 Split - Curators Play As Much As A Role As Creators
Currently, the split is 75/25 in favor of the creator.
If both curator and creator have an equal role in the overall success of Steemit, it seems a 50/50 split should be ideal to satisfy both parties. As an author, you already have an added bonus of getting half paid out in Steem Dollars,where as a curator it goes straight into Steem Power.
As a writer, I realize the importance the curators have by giving me their upvote, thus why I am onboard with at least a 50/50 split and the success of Steemit.
Incentive for Curators to Vote At Anytime
I am not a curator, I upvote what I like and do not worry about payout timers etc.
But ....
What I have noticed is the majority of votes come within the first 30 minutes of a new post being posted. The post will still get some trickle votes up to the initial payout window but not many. (I wish I had some stats on this)
Past the initial payout votes on posts are nearly nonexistent. This is a huge problem in my opinion in the long term success of this platform. I feel we risk Steemit turning into a platform that will be spewing out regurgitated half-assed posts because posts currently hold very little long term value.
I suggest applying the 25% gained from a 50/50 split to incentivize voting outside the current "normal" voting patterns we currently see. Or change how it currently functions, it doesn't seem to function as well as it could.
Royalties - Getting Paid as a Curator and Creator forever
I have yet to come up with a good reason why both creator and curator are not paid after the 30-day payout.
I don't suggest the same or similar payout as the initial first 2 payouts, but if long term success for Steemit is on the agenda you might want to seriously consider this @ned and @dan
I know Ned posted a few weeks ago about a list of celebrities to try and bring to the platform. In order for the kind of names to take Steemit seriously, they are going to want ongoing "royalties" or whatever term you wish to use for it to be worth their time.
Any creator should have this for their work they produce in my humble opinion if there is a gain on that work anyway. Otherwise, you may find it hard to retain high-quality content creators on the platform.
How this "cost" is built into the system I am not sure, as I don't know the inner workings and or any technical challenges, but having the ability for a person to find a gem 2 years from now that was overlooked or had no audience for prior to would show a great deal of promise and faith in the Steemit platform.
Otherwise what incentive does an author have to place their best work or their first work on Steemit when other avenues offer an ongoing source of return.
I do suggest all rewards past the 30 day payout go into Steem Power only though.
Wrapping it up
In order for any of these changes I mentioned above to have an actual impact Steemit first needs to address the issue of voting power first and foremost. However, there is plenty of discussion going on around about this topic so no need to touch on it here.
Please feel free to discuss, disagree, agree, and debate any of what I have said in the comments. I am sure there will be some who disagree with these changes and some who may agree. Or some who may agree with parts of it. I would love to hear others thoughts on this as together we should be working together to make this the place to be in the near future. We all have a stake in this!
Thanks for reading and your consideration for my thoughts.