…doomed to either be a huge success or go down in internet history as a great idea. It’s been a couple of weeks since I heard about Steemit for the first time. As as a content creator myself I was in love with the idea of the platform from day one. Finally a system that doesn’t censor, that values all participating in the value ladder (content creator, platform and visitors).
But that was just the surface … The more I looked into the system, the more my initial hype calmed. Don’t get me wrong Steemit has the potential to change social media, let me rephrase it, Steemit has the potential to become the first real social media platform.
It’s already amazing to see what the Steemit team and community have created. There is definitely demand for a product like Steemit (especially after companies like YouTube and are starting to really F*CK things up).
But taking it from less than 100k users to mass adoption is a long journey with many hurdles to take. Which brings me to my list of things that need to be addressed!
4 Points That I Would Love See Addressed
#1) Usability - Going from Symbian to iOS ;)
If you want to create an app or service that truly reaches mass adoption it has to be easy to use. And I mean really easy to use - to the point where it needs little to no on-boarding. Currently Steemit is mainly used by geeks, people that are into cryptocurrency, internet and online marketing. We are they type who are willing to go the extra mile to “figure things out”.
This is something we can not expect from the average user.
It starts with the signup process, creating content, the reward system, steem, steem $, steem power, power up, power down, interest, etc.
I’ve put quite some time into understanding Steemit in detail. Even so, until this day I haven’t yet fully understood how everything works. It sort of reminds me of the symbian days, where things were more complicated than they had to be and then a company called Apple came around the corner and hid all that complexity behind an intelligently designed UI/UX (and I didn't have to know how it worked).
I think this is what Steemit would need. Even more simplicity.
#2) Interest - Value shouldn’t be created from thin air!
As far as I understand it, just for holding Steem Power or Steem $ I will collect a certain % of interest over a certain period of time. And I don’t have to look far to see that this is a system that in the long run caters to the “Elite”. Our financial system is built around this same principle that just by holding an asset you can earn more of that asset. Ultimately creating new assets out of thin air.
In the real world it leads to the rich getting richer and the poorer getting poorer. In Steemit I don’t see it as that drastic but I would love to see other mechanisms in place that are in line with the laws of nature.
“Imagine putting an apple in the fridge and the next day you have two. Doesn’t work, right? ;)”
#3) Economical Purpose - We can't feed ourselves forever :)
Currently it feels like the small hype around Steemit (the exciting new concept and the fact that a handful of people make good money with it, is the only thing creating a demand for Steem. It’s like an engine that is currently feeding off of itself. And I don’t think that this can last over time.
Just to give you an example, I came across an article that made close to 15.000USD with just a couple thousand views and a handful of comments from the right people. The article itself didn't really deliver any value either. So why was it worth all this money? I have no idea :) In the real world, this article would have probably made 0$. In fact our most successful article on our own blog has gathered 30 Million views, 1.5 Million shares and 1000s of comments and guess what? I would have been happy if it made me that much in direct revenue (but that's another story...).
I hope you get my point that at the moment things are totally out of proportion, based on hype rather than real world value / connection.
This for me is a major point that can not be ignored. A project that understood the importance of this is the brave browser. They incorporate the company with content creators, viewers and advertisers. And just like them, I would consider “advertisers” on the platform. The rules are to be determined, but it would be a smart move. This would create a consistent and reliable demand for Steem as the platform continues to grow.
#4) The Infinite Power Dilemma - Bye Bye Quality & Hello Robots!
Please bare with me if I get this one wrong. But from what I understand Steem Power gives you the power to a) influence earnings and b) influence visibility of content within the platform. The core idea behind this concept is great but I think it has 2 major flaws.
- The Steemit wales aka early adopters have too much power and it will become increasingly hard for newcomers to gain enough influence to compete. Welcome to an unwanted monopoly.
- THE BIGGER PROBLEM: Steem power seems to be infinite. I can use it as much as I want (except for those little wait times). Imagine you had unlimited votes or money. You could just buy and vote on anything because hey, you can’t run out. I think this is a problem that, in the long run, will hugely impact the quality on Steemit and is a big incentive to build bots and other tools to trick the system. Why not see the Steem Power balance as a container: the more you use it, the emptier it gets. It can only be filled again by other people engaging with your content. This would lead to people wisely spending their Steem power and creating high quality content at the same time.
These are just my first findings, I am sure there are plenty more challenges waiting down the road (copyright, quality, etc.) and Steemit has all it takes to master them.
I would be curious to see what you think about these points; do you agree or have a different view on things? Did I totally miss the point?
PS: I LOVE YOU STEEMIT :)