This is the text published a few days ago, on one of the Serbian leading marketing portals. I wrote it as an introductory text for the workshop that will be held this march by my agency Headmade (we are working on the new site these days ;-)), on the Forum Izazov 2018 (Challenge 2018). This forum is the regional event in the communication industry, so we decide to talk about the potential of Steemit and similar concepts in this field. We really believe that blockchain can transform everything around us. Anyway, here is the text – I hope you will find it interesting, and if you do - please let me know what you think about it.

You can read the Serbian version here.

User-Generated Content and Cryptocurrencies - New Perspectives

Instead of an introductory explanation in which it would inevitably come to the general conclusion that new concepts and technologies continually transform every aspect of our life, let’s ask ourselves one question:

What changes would bring an environment in which end users value content based on its real contribution to the community?

Aware of the moment in which we live, we would probably conclude that this concept sounds utopian. Indeed, today we are far closer to the dystopia. Although we usually quote Orwell, the situation is more like what Huxley was talking about. In a time of the intensive content creation, most users ignore information that does not allow them to instantly satisfy the basic desire for entertainment. Personal preferences quickly and easily merge creating general ones, which directly affects the final image that we face every time we enter a query into the browser or access our account on the social network. These results not only determine what we are adopting but also what we are creating in a natural search for a place in the trends. Trends that appear at such speed that we approach them mechanically and not critically.

So, instead of valuing content we accept it as a reflection of our reality. Thus its legitimacy ceases to be truly questioned. Because the content is King.

The King is naked!

Drawing attention to real values when we are surrounded by user-generated content on every step is almost impossible if we rely only on the shout from the Andersen story. Everything becomes even more difficult when the intermediary service is always present between the content creators and the end users. These services have their rules and huge impact (control) on the visibility of content we are producing. Still, it's important to ask who actually is tailoring a suit for our King?

Jeff Howe, the maker of crowdsourcing term, speaking of this phenomenon refers to the rule "1:10:89" set by Bradley Horovitz, which says that from 100 users of a particular site 1% will create content that has a certain value, 10% will vote and evaluate entries, while 89% will be his consumers. Of course, here we speak mostly about users who are finding satisfaction in the very act of committing the related activity. However, what if the game rules change?

Is it time for new clothes?

The rapid expansion of the cryptocurrencies is an important phenomenon, both because of the decentralized nature of the blockchain technology and the strong influence it has made in the mainstream. While we are paying attention to leading cryptocurrencies, we are largely unaware of the gradual expansion of platforms that evaluate user-generated content based on other currencies. Basically, these are platforms where users have the opportunity to earn if their content is noticed and valued by the online community. Such concepts are rapidly evolving, and today we have sites like Synereo, Sola, Social and Steemit, which besides networking, information and content exchange, offer its users the opportunity to earn money.

Steemit is an interesting example because of the significant development since the launch in July 2016. Thanks to Steam blockchain technology, depending on the level of activity and quality of content that they create and support, its users earn profits and accumulate a certain voting power that directly determines the financial strength of their support. This means that participants receive a financial benefit if they create valuable content.

It is quite reasonable to ask if such concepts could change the 1:10:89 rule, and alter the balance between those who create, evaluate, and consume content. This rule has its own variations, but the first two groups are always placed in the category of a smaller percentage. Although publishing user-generated content doesn't cost much, creating and evaluating it requires knowledge, skills and time -where satisfaction often don’t represent an adequate fee for spent resources. Accordingly, most users voluntarily become the dominant group of consumers, believing that the quality of what they are able to create is not sufficiently aligned with the trends that will enable it to be recognized and then rewarded as a new value.

However, the possibility of earning is a factor that can initiate user migration from the sphere of consumers into the sphere of creators and evaluators, while permanent changes in the valuation system are a natural consequence of a decentralized space where everyone is able to vote for content and determine its position within the structure.
The expansion of such concepts enlights a new direction that will surely bring different manifestations in the future. Steemit announced the launch of Smart Media Token in 2018, which enables easy creation and implementation of digital currencies based on Steem blockchain. Time will show will it succeed and provide us with a new way for monetisation of online content and alternative to large social networks. Until then, this tendency should not be ignored. We must be aware that we are probably witnessing the moment in which traditional networks will be suppressed by crowdsourcing platforms that will consolidate crowd creation, crowd voting and crowdfunding functions in a completely new, decentralized light.

From abstract to concrete

An environment without censorship in which users get the opportunity to independently decide on the value of the content they create, enables the development of a new system of responsibility that will largely determine the way of communication among all participants - regardless of their current status and reputation.

Although the most of the platforms we are talking about is still in their development phases, there are visible results. Initiatives grow into projects that take high ranked positions in trending categories. This is easiest to see through the prism of crowdfunding activities that get a new dimension due to the lack of constraints in terms of the form of the queries that require community support. Direct donations have been replaced by funding through voting, which doesn’t require taking from the limited budget of donators/backers.

For example, STACH (Steem Accelerator Hub) initiative has become a successful idea which led to the creation of space where young people from Nigeria can gain additional education and develop creativity with a special emphasis on reducing the gap between ordinary people and IoT technology. There is also the Utopian.io project, which rewards solutions that contribute to open source projects. Even at the level of basic user activity, it is possible to notice patterns that suggest a difference in relation to traditional channels. Potential abuses such as plagiarizing content or exploiting popular themes without adding value are quickly spotted and punished by the community.

Challenge or a soap bubble?

If this concept proves to be sustainable it will undoubtedly affect the communication process, leaving less room for inertia characteristic to platforms where communication occurs in predefined frameworks. A decentralized system creates a context in which users not only value the content but also validate it by giving the credibility to each published information. The rule of quality is applied to all content regardless of its creator – it can be the well-known brand or its end consumer.

So are we coming close to the moment when the budgets will affect the content position less than ever? Will these concepts affect the structure of our target audiences? Are we going to create the trends together and will the emerging circumstances point to the new market potentials? Will micro-communities be more important and the moment becomes a measure of success, are just some of the questions that we will have to answer before it is done by those who are in our everyday focus.

images source: https://pixabay.com