Are You Looking At Steem Today Or Two Years From Now?

@chesatochi put up a very honest post yesterday about his present, albeit temporary, frustration with what is taking place with STEEM. He is lacking a bit of motivation seeing his payouts drop significantly over the past couple weeks. It is often very hard to keep motivated when your payouts are declining as the price of STEEM moves down. Most of us are indoctrinated to convert the STEEM received into some fiat currency.

https://busy.org/@chesatochi/long-post-01-my-discouragement-and-great-steem-blockchain-future

It is simply how we think.

This is a mistake that one I am guilty of also. I look at a 5 SP payout in terms of USD. Compared to where things were months ago, this is rather depressing. We all are experiencing it no matter what the amount of SP we have.

Making this mental conversion is a surefire way to loss one's motivation. We know the frustration is great simply looking at those who left the blockchain.

The real deal is there is nothing wrong. This is all part of the process. Yes, the extended period of FUD and the raging bear were unexpected, by me at least. However, we are looking at something that is amazing taking place right before our eyes.

We are involved in the creation of Web 3.0. This is a process that started 10 years ago, technically, but is a long younger when you really think about it. We are only now reaching a point where there are enough people involved to make some major headway. This industry is still in the infancy stage. We have a lot to work out.

Do you know who is not frustrated right now? Those individuals who were around for the formation of Internet 1.0. Ask some of the older developers on here what life was like before web browsers. Heck, I am sure there are a lot of younger people who do not even remember dial-up. Do you recall how many years it took for that to be pushed aside for broadband (much of the world still have that by the way for their wired Internet)?

How about Web 2.0? You could say that it sprung into high gear with MySpace emerging in the middle 2000s only to be eclipsed by Facebook by the end of that decade. This is what most people associate with the onset of social media or Web 2.0.

The only problem is the foundation was around for decades. Does anyone remember the old Bulletin Board System (BBS)? These were the first really "common" social media sites albeit archaic by today's standards. What about AOL? Does that ring a bell with anyone?

Some believe social media starting with the advent of Six Degrees. This was born in 1997, a full seven years before Facebook starts and more than a decade before it took over as the social media leader.

https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/

My point is that it took a long time for these things to become overnight sensations. Yes, the ascension of MySpace and Facebook were very quick, achieving success in under 4 years. However, the foundation was laid long before that.

So where are we now? My guess is pre-AOL and still in the BBS era using modems.

Check out this video: it has some satire in it but it really drives home the point.

Now that you are done laughing, for the serious stuff: this is how asinine our industry is today.

Mind you, it is nobody's fault. It is just the stage we are in. Web 3.0 is complicated; too complicated for the average users. Ease of use is going to be the challenge for developers over the next couple years. That is their "elephant in the room". DApps will require simplicity, versatility, and speed.

People often ask when will we see mainstream adoption? My guess is when the absurdity of that video rings true with everyone who is around here today. When we get to the point where operating in that video is akin to having a pager, then we will know we are slated for mass adoption.

Steem does have an advantage in that it is social media, something that many are accustomed to and familiar with. That said, it takes a long time to truly understand what is taking place. The industry needs help with the overall comprehension of crypto. We are far from that point. Nevertheless, being social media does aid people in the transition.

We are making some progress. Here is an article that should help with some motivation. It is easy to watch the numbers dwindle yet there is still an impact being made. According to this post by @vlemon, this is what the month of October looked like for Steemit.

My October assumptions

• Total visits to Steemit.com: 14,34mn
• Assumption of Total unique visitors in October: 7-8mn
• Total Daily visitors: 400-500k
• Assumption of Total Daily Unique visitors: 300-350k

Following is the link showing the data to back this up and how these conclusions were arrived at.

https://busy.org/@vlemon/steemit-statistics-and-big-data-end-of-october-2018-update

I do not know the accuracy of these number yet I can tell you that what we post on here does make an impact. With so many different users, the Google rankings for some categories see Steemit posts in the top 10. There are many people who read some of the information posted on here without joining. When you think about it, most sites, the majority of the activity is readers as opposed to commenting. It is only a small percentage that comment on any site.

Each week I do my best to write posts that discuss the potential reach of the different applications on here. At this point, that is all it is; potential. However, for the stage we are in, it is good that we are seeing applications that could have mass appeal. As these applications go through their updates, we see a stronger product being offered.

And guess what happens when the masses are ready? Steem based applications will be there waiting.

Try to imagine where applications like @actifit, @steemmonsters, @steemhunt, and @dtube will be at in two years. Picture the potential features they will have as compared to the present. Do not be surprised if many of them are tied into some type of commerce too.

People often wonder how can I be so optimistic about Steem and stay that way. My simple answer is that I do not look at things in 2018 or even 2019. I am a few years out in my views and that is what I compare it to. I know we are dealing with a bare skeleton of what this ecosystem will be at that time. Watching technology is a process meaning that pinpointing to one spot in time is often a mistake. It grows, evolves, and changes.

I do not know how things will look in two year but I do know we will be much further along than where we are today.

---

If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and resteem.