Impending Voice v. Steem showdown? Plus, the cross-posting conundrum
Something pretty exciting happened for me the other day. I got an email inviting me to take a survey for the new EOS Voice service. The survey was basically asking questions to determine if I would be eligible for a sort of pre-beta roll out of the system. This tells me that they might be getting pretty close to being ready for full deployment.
I don't think they have a "go live" date yet, but anyone can visit the site above and request to be a beta user.
EOS has always been near and dear to me. In a round about way, it is the first crypto that I ever bought and it is the blockchain that the guy who got me into Steem eventually left to pursue.
The idea of Voice made me think of this picture I took on approach to Chicago during some trip. The buildings all packed so tightly together symbolize all the different blockchains and tokens that are out there right now. It is crazy to think that there is basically a token for everything. It also raises the question about competition. Is it possible for two blockchain based social media platforms to exist without the one suffocating the other?
Facebook and Google +
Let's take these two platforms for example. I remember when Facebook first came out. I was just out of college, so it wasn't as front and center to me as it was to university and college students at the time. It wasn't anywhere close to being as polished and user friendly as MySpace.
Eventually it gained traction and MySpace kind of died (or went back to focusing on band promotion which was the original intent). Meanwhile, Google was doing some really great things and came out with Google +. I loved the idea "circles" and easily being able to share certain things with my family and others with my friends.
As you know, things didn't turn out so well for Google +, they shuttered it a little while ago and I think towards the end it was being used more for professional communities rather than true social media.
If only we could have a view as clearly as this about what the future holds. As Steemians, we have seen many platforms come out as competition to Steem and its various front ends. As dated as the Steemit front page is, I still haven't seen a competitor that offers the polish, substance, and options that Steem does.
There are several things right now that could be a problem for Voice and steer people towards some alternative (maybe STEEM?). From what I understand Voice is going to have some pretty significant KYC components. This could be a deal breaker for a lot of people that value anonymity. Additionally, if you follow EOS, you will know there have been some network related congestion issues lately. These continue to be a problem and could ultimately turn enough people off from Voice that they will go looking for something else.
I've been kicking the idea of Voice around in my head for quite some time now and I still haven't figured out where it might fit in the grand scheme of things.
I like the idea of being in on something that is starting from the ground floor. Look at those who were early users of STEEM. Don't you wish you could have had that opportunity? I know for certain that if I am lucky enough to become a Beta user, I will definitely be doing some cross-posting.
Speaking of Cross-Posting
That brings up another issue. Where do the majority of users fall when it comes to cross-posting? I personally don't feel like it is that big of a deal as long as it is your original content. I have seen some users cross-posting to four different platforms though, so at what point does it just become an exercise in milking every platform as much as you can?
The specific user above was back linking all of his other posts to his main Steemit post. This seemed dumb to me because, if I already read the article on Steemit, why would I want to follow one of the links just to read it again.
Someone pointed out to me the backlinks could be there to show proof of originality to avoid getting lit up by cheetahbot. Fair enough...
I've also been part of groups that have encouraged you to publish your posts to Twitter, Steem, Medium, etc. because they want the post to get as many eyes as possible. The question is, at what point does it become abuse? Milking reward pools? Quality of the post could definitely be considered, but we all know quality and value are subjective to each individual reader.
I really want to hear your opinions on this, so leave me a comment with your thoughts below.
Check out some of my recent posts that have generated some good discussion:
https://steemit.com/hive-114105/@bozz/steem-barometer
https://steemit.com/hive-122108/@bozz/the-keepers-of-knowledge
https://steemit.com/hive-122108/@bozz/it-support-drawing-the-line
all images are my own
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Damn, I never got the email even though I signed up for the Beta. Maybe it was for US only? As regards cross posting I have no problem with it as long as the content is platform agnostic and evergreen if you know what I mean. I spend quite a lot of time on my own posts and would like them seen by as many as possible but ones regarding Steem will stay on Steem. I am looking forward to Voice and becoming an active member there as well as continuing my journey here.
That could be the case. I am not sure if there is a rhyme or reason to the email going out. I am pretty sure the other person that has commented here so far that they got the email is also in the US.
I just hope the beta will be world wide. I really want to get in on the ground floor.
I was pretty excited to get that email too! I filled out the survey immediately.. 😁
I think it is fine to cross post, I will be doing it with some of my better articles. Truth is I will have a bunch of different followers, sure some might cross over but most will be different so why not share my old stuff on a new platform?
I agree with you. I have written some real gems that I am certainly proud of. I believe in working smarter not harder so why would I reinvent the wheel. I have a feeling we may see a lot of people we are familiar with here over there!
The other advantage to cross posting to somewhere other than Steem is that there's more of a chance that all your photos won't disappear, like busy users are now finding!
I would also cross post. I didn't get an email from Voice but did put my name down on the wait list. I might check my junk mail.
I don't think KYC is going to put that many people off, at least not mainstreamers.
KYC is just part of the game anymore. We have to live a little in terms of regulation if we really want cryptos to go mainstream. That is my opinion anyway. Heck if I get rich in all of this, I would happily give the government their 30%. I'd still have 70% more than I did in the beginning!
Totally agree with you that there is no blockchain or crypto to solve them all. It's just nonsense. It's not like there is a website(not searching engine) to host anything online that anyone would need on this planet.
Regarding cross posting, I am doing that on publish0x, and don't feel that it is an issue for Steem, or publish0x. I am posting my own articles and I have the two accounts somehow connected, due to filling the profile of one with having the other one's link as well.
Voice sounds interesting and I am expecting it to get out of beta.
How is publish0x working out for you? I have only just heard about it recently.
Lemmee (It's a word. Really. I've used it in Scrabble ) start with Google Plus. I loved the concept and embraced it wholeheartedly. I got myself certified as a creator and got some serious search results on some of my writing. Their video product was clunky and hard to use, but otherwise it was really good. Until it wasn't. When it really started going 'professional' it started circling the drain. I didn't miss it at all when it left. I do admit that I still miss Google Photos though.
I'm really looking forward to your early adopter report on EOS Voice.
I'm not a huge fan of multiple cross posting though I post originally to Pal Net so in effect am cross posting. Not that there is a great deal of difference between the two.
I considered posting my post today to Medium also. In the end, I decided that it's not appropriate to medium as it's written for Pnet or Steem. If I'm going to post it I'm going to write it in a different voice.
Most of the stuff I wrote for Oracle-D was cross posted to Medium. In all honesty, Medium feels a lot like Steem was introduced to me. High quality technical content. I can do that sort of thing, but not with the ease that I do posts on Steem. I am hoping that Voice is something I can find my place in.
I to was well perhaps intrigued more than excited to get that email, I will try it out and see how it goes, but i hope it doesn't have a negative impact on Steem, we have all put so much into it would be terrible if it was to fade away, however that said I see no reason why the two could not coexist and thrive
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Hi @bozz
Somehow I'm not convinced if Voice is what most people would need/use.
Not only it seem to be over-complicated (just like anything related to EOS) making learning curve even more difficult than STEEM. On top of that KYC - I personally do not feel like providing every business out there with my personal data, only so I could try out their software.
Regardless on all those conspiracy theories, I really cannot see many people willing to go through KYC. Only passionate early-adopters will do it without seeing a problem.
In current age, with short attention span - user would lose interest within less than 2 minutes. This is exacly the reason why I don't see future for Voice.com. To difficult and to troublesome. It may serve well to selected and well targeted people, but I don't see mass adoption ever taking place.
Yours, Piotr
I must confess: it’s rather disappointing to see you regurgitating the exact same comment you left on other posts on Voice - putting absolutely zero effort in offering @bozz the respect of custom-tailoring to his actual post :
Then again, it might appear you’re simply using a bot to automate your commenting for the purpose of your own self-promotion - given it seems many of your comments are regurgitated three times with nothing changed except the username...
The shocking impersonal part is the ones with your request to be contacted on Discord - given I’m using my REAL name on both - only to have received the response on Discord, “do we know each other?”
This is precisely the impersonal spamming I’ll be quite happy to see Voice’s mechanisms preventing.
Seriously. This whole strategy of yours feels so ingenuine, you’ve lost serious respect points in my book.
👎
Dear @rok-sivante, @buzz
Wow. Seriously guys? I understand fighting with spam abuse and mass comments not related at all to publication.
But to get upset that I posted similar comment altogether to 3 different users, all of whom dropped comment on recent @rok-sivante post related to Voice is ... at least a bit harsh.
I cared about opinion of @carlgnash and @buzz and I wanted to hear also from them. I surely could re-write same comment in 3 different ways - but is that really necessary?
And telling me TWICE, that 'Respect has been lost' only proved how easily one can lose your respect.
At this stage I guess I owe you guys appology. If I knew that it will upset you to the point that I will get downvoted then I surely wouldn't try to reach out to you.
If you do not want to ever hear from me, then please let me know,
Anyway once again - solid read. I upvoted it already earlier on,
Yours, Piotr
Yes, seriously. Comes across as very impersonal.
Wow.... Just, Wow. Nice catch!
Hi @bozz
I replied to this harsh comment here. Seriously I would never guess that it may be so easy to upset anyone.
Reality is that my initial comment was absolutely genuine. I read both publication - yours and the one written by @rok-sivante (that's exactly how I bumped into your post, because I also read your comment where you stated that you wrote about similar topic).
I had exactly similar thoughts and similar opinion on exactly the same topic. If you also feel offended and upset, then please accept my appology. That surely wasn't my intention.
Yours
Piotr
It's fine. I deal with a lot of abuse through the Sports Talk platform so I am a bit pickier than most. I'm not really that bent about it though.
Thanks for your kind reply @bozz. I'm glad to hear that I didn't upset you as it surely wasn't my intention.
Yours, Piotr