The changing Steem ecosystem and those who don't change

We went to catch up with some friends briefly for a coffee. They have just moved back to Finland after 10 or so years away for his work. Before he left he had a strategy that allowed him to progress very fast through the ranks of his company and open up opportunities that others had been waiting for. What he did was, work very hard.

When others were keeping office hours, he was staying back late. When others would turn down work that clashed with their private lives, he worked weekends. When others were complaining to their superiors about him getting promoted even though they had been their longer, he did more than what was expected.

Now he is back in Finland, he is currently working out what he is going to do with his life. His wife who has not worked while being abroad will return to her career and he is considering, staying at home and day trading in a semi-retired life. He is my age. I am happy for him.

What I find interesting (and he and I have discussed a few times over the years we have been good friends) is, the people who felt entitled to promotions because they had been at the company longer. This is not uncommon as many people feel that age equates to skill but in actual fact, experience is the real teacher.

Also, many of the people who have a lot of time in aren't necessarily the most motivated to keep pushing or, the most willing to accept or adapt to changes. Often, they are also not full of bright ideas as they have become accustomed to the way things are, which makes it difficult to promote them.

In my own work I have dealt quite extensively with these types of people and, industries that breed these types of people but pretty much, everywhere can suffer from people with entitlement issues. Steem is no exception.

There are quite a number of people who were early adopters of Steem and were doing very well but got too comfortable or, too complacent in their position doing what they did. Many seem to forget that this place is in Beta and has been since they started so relying on it tom remain unchanging and in the form one wants is not a great strategy. Some people who were very highly rewarded early on are struggling now and, this can happen to anyone here.

Essentially, a change or series of changes could make either ones content irrelevant or, support disappear. The large amounts of stake going into bidbots is the most obvious here where people who used to vote manually now sit back and earn passively. There are apps that come and go and of course, content niches that rise and fall in popularity also.

Steem is much like the real world and the only real protection against irrelevance is adaption. This can be done in many ways but a lot of people struggle to let go of what they have always done and learn or adjust for a new environment. Often, they then look at the new people who come in and feel that their position and status has been taken away.

What many don't realise is that the system that they so happily enjoyed and benefited heavily from was not suitable for other people's approaches. They didn't recognise that they were privileged. A change however may empower the previously disadvantaged into having a competitive advantage. For example, being comfortable in front of a camera as it is hard to be anonymous and benefit from making personal videos on @dlive or commentary on @dtube.

When it comes down to it though, all of our time is limited here as no matter how talented, very few people are able to consistently change with the trends and where support is going to land. For Steem, this means that future earning on Steem is going to come down to having Steem power to curate, sell, take airdrops or whatever else is possible. And, this is where many of the early adopters fell perhaps.

Many who came in early found that earning here was easy for them, they got to the right people at the right time when competition wasn't very high and, there was a lot of Steem Power floating around. This charged their entitlement batteries and made them feel confident that powering everything down wouldn't affect their lifestyle.

Bad call in my opinion because, the platform isn't and is still far from being stable. It is going to keep changing and at times drastically, for potentially years to come.

One thing that the bidbots can be thanked for in some way is that people have recently started to really consider distribution and have realised that there needs to be a larger group of SP holders who are willing to build the community. This means that more people are looking at track record of users they vote on and some of the larger voters are not voting on people who have powered down everything. This has shifted some of the available SP to users with track records or potential to be here in the future. At least for now.

Things can change very fast though and while people are complaining about how things were they, are missing the potential to reinvent themselves and even potentially, do better and have more fun doing it.

It could be that next week, next month or next year, an app, interface or hardfork empowers those who now feel 'disenfranchised' again or, create a space where many more people can be empowered more evenly.

Still though, the fact is likely to always remain that those with significant Steem Power will be those who benefit the most and those who choose not to invest into the platform will always struggle. Those who had the opportunity to earn well here and still didn't invest anything are likely going to struggle the most. Not only with getting future support but, with having past regrets.

There is a high risk that this place will not turn out successfully and those who powered out will likely be glad they did but, this is the thing with investment. In general, the higher the uncertainty, the higher the reward if it works out well. Powering up is investing into that uncertainty and powering down (from an investment perspective) is saying, I am not willing to take that risk.

However, this can go well beyond an act of faith as those who are investing in are much more likely to care how the system performs in the long term and on Steem, that means not just for personal earnings but, distribution and stability as a whole. Those who power out can do essentially nothing for distribution as they have nothing to distribute anymore.

I was talking to @fredrikaa yesterday who is co-founder of Steempress (I am posting on now) and how he is taking some risks in his career to put more time into Steem. He and @howo have already put a lot into Steem. Yes, some people might think this is crazy and it is definitely NOT possible for everyone but, they are investing into the uncertainty. They work very hard at this, have had good success with their projects and - they have both been here just over a year. What about all of those high-earning early adopters, where are their projects on Steem?

It would be fantastic for me if this was a content rewarding site only because, that is where I am comfortable (regardless of whether you like my particular content or not) but, it isn't. It is a platform that is continually growing and expanding into areas where 1700 word articles aren't the norm. What happens to me? I can't only rely on my content.

Well, I don't have a place forever but, I can continue doing what I enjoy unrewarded if, I can still earn with the Steem Power I have collected. I have 1900 articles under my belt, 10,000+ comments and I have distributed a fair amount of my stake over the last year. I have also been part of many various interactions on Steem and a lot of conversations that didn't win me a lot of friends. I see this as my track record, someone who invests-in and works to improve the system in his own way.

My Steem Power is hopefully not going to be part of a sinking ship, it is going to be a ticket to access all of the doors Steem may open in the future through apps, SMTs and various revenue streams. I might not earn on posts but, I can still be a significant earner and part of the system while helping others earn also.

For me on Steem, there is a larger meaning to the platform and its potentials than a place to earn a little by writing about what I like to write about. True or not, it makes me feel part of doing something that has the chance to influence and change some of the current systems in the world and improve many people's lives.

I am sure that I am not the only one who feels that the world could do with a shift in the way it operates. But, do the people think that the change that is good for them isn't going to impact on others? There are a whole range of people in this world who are currently living in unknown privilege and positions they feel entitled to. They have likely also been there a long, long time.

Are you going to feel sorry for the bankers and crony politicians when they whinge that they are no longer getting supported? Will you hold back change to maintain the status quo to protect them? Will you continue to suffer so they don't?

Change is coming. Always.
Don't get too comfortable.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

Posted with Steempress