The Surprising Number of "First Time Bloggers" on Steemit
Steemit really is a wonderful and interesting Community!
One of the things that still doesn't cease to surprise me is the remarkable number of "first time bloggers" and even "first time social media users" we have here.
I say that because social content and social media sites have been around for the better part of 20 years... and yet? Pretty much every day I come across posts and comments here in which someone is saying "Yeah, this is actually my first time to blog and even use social media!"
A warm welcome to the blogosphere to all of you!
What Does This Say About Steemit?
I'm still not entirely sure what this says about our community.
Sunset with clouds
Is it the fact that this place is heavily populated by various forms of Anarchists that's making the difference? Is it the lure of an "uncensored" platform that's the incentive? Is it the idea that Steemit is decentralized and running on a blockchain that's the appeal?
It's easy to fall back on the "convenient out," which would be saying "because there are rewards!" That's all good and fine, but "rewards for content" sites have been around since the late 1990's and millions of people have used them. In other words, the rewards — by themselves — really do not make Steemit unique.
Some (idealistically inclined) people might argue that Steemit is very "equal opportunity," but that's not even necessarily true... "Whales" have way more power and influence than anyone else, and essentially your rewards tend to — mostly — be directly related to how much you've invested in the site; in Steem.
So something else constitutes the "special sauce."
Personally Speaking
Of course, I am not a "first time" blogger here, so I can't directly address the appeal to newcomers. However, this was interesting enough that I decided to move a considerable chunk of my blogging time here, from Blogger and WordPress.
Peaceful pond scene
One major appeal was always that creating content here is far more "social" than on most other platforms. I can put a post on one of my Blogger blogs and it might have 1500 views within 24 hours... but only a couple of people might take the time and effort to comment.
Another major appeal to me is this opportunity to make a "soft entry" into the crypto markets. Whereas I have been interested ever since someone described Bitcoin to me sometime in 2011, cryptos always seemed extremely complicated... to the point where I typically ended up feeling they were more of an abstraction than something real.
In other words, the "psychological distance" between BTC in my wallet and a cup of coffee felt somewhat unfathomable, and mostly something that existed in the realm of hard-core developers and people with basements full of "mining equipment."
With Steemit, I get to do something I know (blog), rather than something I don't know (build computers), but I am part of this pioneering crypto gig and this brave social experiment.
How about YOU? Are you one of the "first time bloggers" on Steemit? What was the appeal, to you? Or have you kept a blog before? For that matter, have you been part of social media, before? Has Steemit been living up to your hopes/expectations? Do you think you will continue here, in the long term? What does Steemit now MEAN to you?Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
Animated banner created by @zord189
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180411 19:10 PST
Greetings denmarkguy. I am a first time blogger, well, lets be honest here, I have yet to blog! I dabbled in Facebook back in and around 2007 or so. I was turned off very early, although re-engaging with some high school friends was fun for a time, I found it far too distracting from my work at the time. I was heavily into video and film then, and when I turned on my computer I wanted to edit. No twitter either. So yes very little social media, although I did spend some considerable time on comment sections of major news outlets here in Canada.
I found Steemit back in the spring of 2017 while I was busy learning some code, HTML, CSS stuff, Bootstrap was a big help. I am a natural researcher, inquisitive and curious but I forgot about Steemit as I worked on a web page I was never happy with. Turns out my coding skills are not that good! I think I found Steemit on youtube.
For the most part when I turn on my mac I want to work. I use a variety of software, none at any sort of expert level but I learn what I need to learn and loose myself in the process. I have not shared any of my work for years, excepting some close friends and family.
Steemit has the potential to simplify, to streamline my ambitions and interests.
Thank you for this post and the opportunity to comment. (any writing I do at this point is a success!)
Well, I hope you decide to start blogging one of these days @blackant; I'm sure you will when the time feels right to you.
Although I don't use it that much in the "social media" sense, I have little against Facebook purely as a way to keep in touch with family and friends in "meatspace" and as a message system and photo sharing utility. In a sense, that's almost the opposite end of the scale from how I perceive Steemit.
I have heard many say that Steemit is a great place for developers and coders; sounds like you've seen some of that, yourself.
Hello @denmarkguy,
I'm not a first-time blogger, but not a master writer either. I came to Steemit when I was trying to learn more about cryptocurrency. I basically watched a Youtube video from someone I was already following and they said to check Steemit out.
To me, this is pretty next level. Everyone finds it harder to get into crypto because we have to part with our beloved fiat currency first, thus buying into a volatile market. But Steemit makes it so that you can earn cryptocurrency instead of buying it directly, allowing for many different types of investments to take place.
I really like the idea behind it. The fact the profanity is not a bannable offense, and I'm not chained to writing the same niche or topic every day is empowering.
On my other social media, sure—hella likes from every direction, but there is a severe lack of engagement. In between those damned "good post" spammers, there are people that genuinely care about an article I wrote, no matter how weird it may be.
I think Steemit helped me to grow as a person more than anything else. Maybe to improve my writing as a close second.
Mahalo,
@shello
Hi @shello, thanks for your thoughtful comment!
You touch on something that kept me away from cryptos for a while, namely the volatility. I looked at them and thought to myself "These are not CURRENCIES, they are more like 'pink sheet' stocks!"
Which, in some ways remains true... you can't exactly pop down to 7-eleven and pick up a sixpack with Steem. Or even BTC. It's getting better, though. But the problem remains that cryptos are too volatile for a seller of "something" to risk pricing their stuff... because it might be worth half a week from now (meaning a loss) or double (meaning no sales).
I'm just enjoying the free-form blogging, and all the cool people here!
I apologize for my late reply @denmarkguy!
This is also the reason why it took me a while to gain an interest and appreciation for cryptocurrency. Truth be told, all last year I was buying things from 7-11 with bitcoin (converted into USD loaded on a VISA), but it is not the same thing.
I am seeing more ATMs pop up, with their own transaction fees and inflated prices, and as of right now that makes it viable for businesses that sell coins but not goods. My building now accepts "lock out" fees in bitcoin, so this is a start.
I think that we'll be seeing more services for crypto coming up, before a time where products will be acceptable. It is more than possible for the volatility to balance out, but not for several years I'd imagine.
Expression and connection is always nice :3
Cheers,
@shello
Well I have been blogging for around 12 years. Did had a sportsbetting blog and a blog devoted to my journey in learning texas holdem poker!
I also have a facebook and twitter acount but both haven’t been used much!
The thing I like here is that it looks easier to get noticed! There is more interaction here, then I ever had on my blogs!
For me Steem is where blogging meets facebook!
You describe almost exactly what the appeal has been for me.
In the early incarnation of blogging, it was often "social blogging," with blog rings and the writers having long conversations with each other over content. MySpace and Facebook took most of that away; urging people to simply leave a "thumbs up" in place of actual words... and so (at least in my book) the "empty headed Internet" came about. Steemit seems to break that mold — in part due to the rewards — and I am really enjoying that.
Feel free to take a look at my latest post. I do try not to wait on the sideline but to change things.
To bad I don’t have the power for it!
Maybe my best post so far! But make your own judgement. Let me know what you think about it, if you do want to read it!
No strings attached!
I will have a look at it and comment there when I have a little more time!
On a quick read-through, it looks like a good idea, though.
No, I’m not a first time blogger. I had a Wordpress blog for 5 years before joining Steemit and I have a FB page and Instagram. I will say that I came to Steemit because my son had joined and convinced me to join also! On Steemit I have met interesting people that live in the USA and all over the world. I’ve learned facts about other countries and cultures from the friends I’ve made on Steemit. People leave genuine comments on almost every post I make. On FB I can post something and my “friends” might not comment at all. I barely use FB now and the same for my Wordpress blog. It just feels more like a genuine community on Steemit.
A large part opf the appeal for me is the truly global nature of the Steemit community-- Farcebook tends to be far more "local" in nature; in addition, at least half the people I tend to interact with over there are folks I know in the "outside world" as friends, family or work colleagues.
Yeah, I had social media but mainly used it as the new yellow pages.
Steemit was the first platform that really drew me in to participating. I signed up early, wish I has been blogging the entire time instead of just reading!
That's one of the interesting things about Steemit; people often start "participating" for upvotes/rewards, and then the sincere level of engagement draws you in. It reminds me a lot of how social content sites used to work, in the early days (2000-ish).
For me steemit is a different proposal, a social network based on respect and support (even though it is often distorted), I have been on social networks for many years, but I never felt the need to write and share something more than photos, I took steemit out of curiosity, they spoke to me about rewards I did not believe, now I am stuck at least 4 hours a day reading and sharing my comments with many publications, which I am now reading and sharing with many publications.
Forgive my mistakes with the English, I use translator
Sounds like you have discovered what many do: They come to Steemit because they are curious about a system of rewards, and then discover that the people here (mostly!) have a very high level of respect and sincerity, as compared to other social media.
Like you, I spend a lot of time here, usually all the "gaps" in my schedule now go to interacting on Steemit, rather than playing "Candy Crush" or something like that!
LOL candy crush was a great pastime in its time, thank God steemit rescued me from those evils, thank you for your kind comment, happy night.
Interesting article, i think it's obvious that there is a BIG incentive: actually being rewarded for creating / curating content, and we can reach our goals sooner than trying to monetize a traditional blog, etc... also i feel there is an incredible community talking and growing important projects for all the society, and we get to share directly, to help and support others, Steemit is really an amazing tool and i think we are still learning all the great potential and how to use it wisely!
You point to something it seems often gets overlooked: A lot of people are using Steemit as a "front end" on outside projects they are developing, and the result is that they can get "funding" (in a sense) to do things that otherwise would never have been possible. Things like @sndbox are a great example-- the renovation and dedication of an actual park in physical space... created thanks to Steem.
I've been blogging for almost two decades, and this is definitely a LOT easier than working with AdSense, Amazon links and all that other stuff. Not to mention it's more secure; Steemit isn't going to suddenly block your account because you said something "Big Brother" didn't approve of.
I have dabbled at blogging before, but this is the first blog I am committed to. I was a FB user, our social community of festival-goers uses it to communicate.
I prefer the interactions here. I like the community building. Now to just fit it into my life now that winter has passed and I am busy all day. A solution will be found!
Finding the time can definitely be a challenge, especially if you have a busy life. Spring being here (USA) is also making this more challenging to keep up with than it used to be.
But yes, the connections and sincerity of the interactions here is far superior to anything else I've seen with social media.
I personally joined the platform after I invested in Steem. I haven't posted much lately but this is my first blog that I've been a part of. I hope steem stays around for the long term and it will be interesting to see how the platform develops over time!
Cool! You're the first person to comment here who started this as an investor, rather than a content creator... which seems to explain at least part of the reason we have many first-time bloggers.
I have been a Social Media user for about 10 years and have blogged off and on for a year or so. The thing I like about Steemit is the interaction the bloggers have with the readers.
And that's precisely one of my favorite things about this community: The interaction. "Social blogging" was always one of my favorite online things... and the whole twitter-Facebook-Instagram thing just seems so incredibly vacuous to me.