Building an Audience - Sndbox 009

As users of the Steem network many of us (probably the majority of active users) are creating content. Whether that content is a blog type post on Steemit or Busy, a picture on Steepshot or a video on DTube etc. On Steem the aim is to create content to demonstrate Proof of Brain. And why wouldn’t you create content? If you produce the right post, picture or video the incentives can vastly outweigh those of traditional social media, with large rewards in Steem.

Although the creation of content is at the core of the network, this post will shift its attention to the otherside of the coin (figuratively speaking) to the audience, to those who consume content.

Should you produce content without an active audience? How can we build an audience on Steem. Why would a user chose to be a consumer on Steem over traditional networks? And, is it possible to utilise existing audiences from other platforms?

 
 

Producing is great, but we need consumers too!

Imagine a situation where everybody was producing. Where all the attention was placed on making content or products. If this was the case then who would be consuming that content or those products? The consumer, or audience is just as important as those who produce the content.

A big difference between the Steem network and traditional social media platforms is the size of audience. In May 2018 Steem announced their user base had broken the 1 million mark, when you compare that to Facebook’s 2.23 billion user base there is a challenge ahead.

Whilst a large user base like Facebook’s would be great for the Steem network, it doesn’t necessarily address the concern of this post. A large user base doesn’t mean more consumers, it may just result in more people producing with nobody listening.

As active users of Steem it should be our responsibility to support the growth of the user base, and audience. To do this there needs to be reasons for the new audience to consume content on Steem rather than their existing mediums.
 
 

Incentives for content consumers

As a producer of content on Steem there are clear incentives for posting work. The monetary value of rewards can range from a cent to hundreds of dollars for the right post. Additionally, the network comprises a lot of like minded people who generally have similar goals and ambitions. These benefits, amongst others have encouraged users to produce new and original content to the network.

As an audience user or consumer the rewards are not so clear, as you don’t receive (potentially) large author rewards. So what are the incentives?

Curation rewards
Whilst authors of posts get the majority of rewards there is a variable percent of every post available for curators. Simply by upvoting a post at the correct time you can receive a share of the authors reward. Sounds good right? There are posts explaining this in more detail, such as this one where you can learn more.

The curation reward feature is a large incentive for an audience user, and it encourages the highest quality posts to surface to the top, further benefiting the network.

 
Advertising free
Steemit and the other dapps are currently free or advertising. Some users are not bothered by adverts, but many hate them. To the latter Steem provides a welcome break from having advertising taking over your screen and experience of a website.
 
An introduction to blockchain
The Steem network is a simple and relatively easy to understand first step into the world of blockchain. To many people cryptocurrency and blockchain seem like an impossible to understand technology that is better to just ignore, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Steem has taken an everyday activity, using social media, and applied this to blockchain technology. By simply using the network users become aware of how blockchain functions and they are able to go as deep down the rabbit hole as they wish.
 
 

Supporting audience migration

The Steem network continues to grow, with new users joining on a daily basis, allowing them to enjoy the incentives of the network. As content creators on Steem it is in our interest to encourage new users to join and our audiences to grow, strengthening the network.

How can we bring new users to Steem?

I would like to encourage new users to try out Steem, using the following on the CritDay Instagram.The actions so far have been through written content about blockchain and Steem, shared across the CritDay website and Instagram.

What else do you think would draw in more users? Share your thoughts below.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://critday.com/2018/09/20/building-an-audience-sndbox-009/

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