Steem is bringing fake internet points to reality
Reddit is one of the most disruptive social networks in the last couple of years. The reason for this, is because of reddit's unique "karma" system. Karma's unique properties are as follows:
- It is permanent
** Unlike illusive "likes", karma remains attributed to your account. - Everyone can see everyone's karma
** this allows celebrity status and allows users to pic favorites. See reddits esteemed GallowBoob for proof. - Karma allows for users to vote on what other users should see
** this creates a system of value.
I want to tell you how I think this all relates to steem. I think the number one thing that makes reddit value is its karma and the capitalist system is creates. People decide what one's hard work is worth on reddit and that is what they get paid. Except... they don't.
As we all know, users on reddit don't get paid. They just get points "attributed" to there account. This has created one of
the biggest memes on reddit. 
fake internet points.
If you're me, this once funny meme does just seem silly now. Why would I post original content if I am not going to get paid for it? It is ridiculous. Now, there is something to say about status. Reddit's karma gives users status. On reddit, you know who is cool. You know who knows how to post and who puts out good content. You might be thinking that the way steemit is constructed, people don't get status, they just get money. Thats wrong too! Vests give people status on here. Vests are a lot like the karma system in that they are relatively permanent. Users only being able to withdraw one one-O-fourth of there coinage per week adds incentive to keep it invested. It also means that users who don't value this website or the system it creates are snuffed out. It should also be worth noting that posts are half payed out in vests. This allows them to function a lot more like karma and creates a value system within the pre-exisisting value system. Instead of just: "I have to make a good post so I can make lots of money" there is also "I have to make a good post so that my vests will go up."
I will get to the point here. steemit achieves everything reddit does, but better. Instead of permanent karma we have trust in our users because they remain vested in the system. Everyone can see everyone's vests just like reddit. Lastly we can still pick and chose who we want to vote for.
Reddit's "fake internet points" system was fine for a while. The whole internet has similar systems littered about. They were an inside joke, but now they are an outside joke. Thank you for reading this post.
Nice post!
Value is a subjective thing. What is the real value of gold? You definitely cannot eat it, so why bother? It still is considered as one of the best value storage mediums. What is the value of dollar? Fed can print it and remove it from the market anytime they want, their decisions aren't even transparent, yet we still spend our entire lives busting our asses for dollars. Similarity Reddit's karma can be more valuable to some than others.
I think that the new age of internet finance will change the world entirely!
You can't trade Reddit's Karma. It has value as a status symbol only. One could use the status to access real money but it is not the same as gold or $. You can't eat gold, but you can definitely trade it for food.
I agree with your last sentence.
Another way to look at it is what is a redditor's incentive to post and discuss? Well, i think it is about sharing about your life in tiny ways, or having a debate about any little thing you care about.
Right now, that isn't possible with steem, I don't know if it ever will, as every social media platform has unsaid rules about what you can post and what you shouldn't.
For example, on Twitter i couldn't write this, at least not in a public tweet. On google plus, you have mostly broader topics to discuss like Tech, Automobiles, News, etc. On Facebook it is all about what you are doing and what your friends are doing to a degree, obviously not if your a business.
So, i see steemit being a bridge between the twitter users and the redditors. That is looking just on the perspective of discussions and NOT blog style posts or a narrative. In terms of that that is where this platform shines and will for who knows how long.
Watch out medium that's all i have to say about that.
Interesting read! But don't You think people will just upvote articles for the sake of upvoting to get more recognition and steems? At Reddit there was no incentive to give karma if the topic discussed wasn't important to You. Here on steemit it'll be possible that people just upvote a lot of articles, but aren't really interested in the content.