Steem = MLM?!
So the more I get into Steemit and how it's structured, the more clear it's becoming to me that it truly appears to be a multi-level marketing scheme at its core, and there's really no way around it. I mean how is it not?! The top content providers with the most followers get paid the most amount of money by far. Someone with 100 followers can post a quality article and get paid $5, while someone with 3000 followers can post the exact same thing and get paid $1000. How is that not an MLM?! The concept of Steem is amazing, but I'm beginning to see it never having the ability to reach the success of instagram or Facebook because of the way it's set up. Pretty much, the whole goal of whales is to get other whales to follow them, and then they basically just trade upvotes with each other. Why would they came about having 1000 followed with a $5 Steempower balance? They don't. They, and everyone, really just want followers with big steempower balancesto get the maximum upvotes. In a way, any believer in Steem loves to see guys like @jerrybanfield pushing Steem and aggressively marketing it, to see the coin price rise. When you're at the level of Jerry and many others, these posts and literally any post they put up will get them paid $2000 just for putting it up on their blog you have doctors and lawyers who go to school for 10 years who aren't getting paid at this level. How does that make sense that someone get paid that kind of money just to put up a blog post marketing a crypto currency that really has yet to prove it can sustain itself in the long run. In the real world, MLM's are illegal, so isn't it just a matter of time before regulations get placed on the crypto world and Steem gets shut down because if this? Am I missing something? Let me know what you think, because at this point, I'm considering powering down and getting into a different coin, like EOS, that doesn't strictly reward those at the highest level and punish or hike back those at a lower level, regardless of quality content
There are those MLM elements to Steemit. No doubt about it. But there are a couple things that, IMO, make Steemit considerably different from pyramid schemes (which are illegal, though MLMs are not).
One is that in an MLM, I'm paid only on the people below me in the system. You could look at that like a follower count, but I routinely get half or more of my upvotes from people NOT following me, so that's a significant difference. If that's an MLM, then the grocery store is one of those, too.
Two is that rewards can be--and are--handed out by the whales without regard to following. It's only happened to me once, but my second post was @curie upvoted, and I had $75 all of a sudden. That can't happen in an MLM.
The biggest difference, to me, is that pyramid schemes depend on taking money from the newcomers to pay the people on the top. So let me ask you, what money has been taken from you? Anything? Have you made a big investment and had the money vanish, transferred to someone else? No. That's not how Steemit works.
The bigger fish get bigger rewards, but they aren't taking them from you. It's part of the community's generated pool. You do--I do, too--get a lot less of it than others, but where is that NOT true in the world? And what's preventing you and me from becoming a bigger fish? Anything?
A lot of what you've said here is true, and few of us haven't felt exactly the way you do. But I think there are some fairly significant differences between scams and Steemit, which is why I'm in for the long haul here.
@cristof you clearly covered many of the points I might have made and Taylor I appreciate you posting about this because it is worth reviewing the downsides of Steemit to help make it a real opportunity.
Absolutely. Thanks for the comment.
I hope you're right. I'd like to stick it out, but I just think there'll be companies that cone out soon that mirror Steem, but without all its flaws
Could be. And if they do, I'll have to look very hard at them. Thanks for the classy response. I respect that a great deal. If you're still around, I'll be following.
@queeneleanor quite valid but dont think steemians would like to hear this truth
Good post. Just a correction, that MLM's aren't illegal in the US. I'm assuming you are from the US, but some MLM's are cutco, advocare, doterra, mary kay, avon, arbonne, and amway
Yes. I should r said MLM pyramid schemes, which Steem feels like
I have noticed for sure many high quality posts that are not making money, maybe just a few cents. While posts with a popular name attached get upvoted like crazy once that 30 minute mark hits. Seems insincere. Like it's a game with people just grubbing after money. Are people even reading those hundreds to thousand dollar posts? I found Banfields post helpful today so I upvoted it. I read it through because I want an alternative to Coinbase.
For me, I upvote what interests me. I write because I like too. This forum is by no means a source of income for me. It seems like a game people are playing hoping to make a buck.
Go to Bixlives ( Bix Weir) on this site. I resteemed his video today. Check out his latest video with Clif High. Based on past success, I listen to both Clif's and Bix's crypto advice. They have never recommended investing in Steem. Get your hands on Veritasium. If you can!!! Litecoin is a super deal right now. Ethereum and Bitcoin are must haves. Steem???? Again, I believe Clif High and how he describes this forum.
Hope you're right! I'd like to load up on Ethereum again soon. Seems like the 5k I have in Steem might serve me better in Ether
In my opinion it would. I highly recommend watching the video. It's a wealth of information.
I'll check it out. Veritasom looks interesting. I actually just bought into Numeraire. I like those low supply coins
unfortunately, it looks like user quit
https://steemit.com/@bixlives
Follow , Upvote and resteem
upvote this post then comment your post link which you want should I upvote it
If you not following me you should follow me then do it
https://steemit.com/upvote/@crypto-booster/upvoting-started-followers