RE: 🆕 July 2023 Newcomers - Where are they now?
Interesting observation.
I think user retention rate is low because it can be overwhelming in the beginning due to tons of rules. Blockchain concept is still new. When people are trying to get the hang of this new world, they are simultaneously bombarded with rules like clubs, burns, tags, beneficiaries and what-not.
Besides, I think it's because:
Steemit demands time in order to be successful which full-time employed people find hard to manage
It doesn't
allow topay bills which makes it unattractive to unemployed people who need work
Users who stay are those who have time and don't depend on Steem for their basic needs.
New users come here only because of the money part. Nobody likes a boring social media which is not even better than My Space or Orkut in terms of user-friendliness.
People join but soon they realise it's not worth the effort.
The particular user who got the attention of sc01 - I hope she returns but looking at her achievement 1 gave me the impression that she might actually be hoping for $400 or maybe she didn't want to power up or burn most of her rewards. So she's still figuring out whether to continue here or not.
I think our best bet is to make it addictive and devise more attractive factors about Steem other than rewards.
P.S. Should've slept instead of wandering online.
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Aren't you Mrs Gloomy when you can't sleep 😉
Yes - the addiction comes from feeling like you're a part of something. You can see it in the early days - people felt like they were a part of something special... almost rebellious. They're on a platform where there are no rules... nobody to force you into a mainstream opinion. Now, like you say, new joiners are bombarded with rules. Many communities impose these rules.
There's community, of course. But that takes time... it takes trust... in a space where that trust has been repeatedly abused by (probably the same bunch of) scammers, over and over again.
I read my comment again; you are right. 😝
This !!! I have precisely felt that when I joined.
How can we achieve that again? I'm not saying we should discourage clubs or burns but there has to be another way around it where people don't feel forced and focus only on being creative with content.
Sometimes, I think the Steemit team should stop taking initiatives specially this SEC. When there are no almost-guaranteed votes, people try different things to get those. For once, they might start focusing on improving their content. Instead of only checking off the rule book.
Okay.. I'm deviating from the issue raised.
Coming back to Newcomers...
Under the current circumstances, I can't think of any robust strategy, honestly.
Perhaps, we need to keep track of genuine newcomers, encourage them through comments and votes. They might feel belonged. Right now, most users only prefer to comment on SEC posts because... well, we know why.
Yes, exactly. I talk a lot about sheep and this is more true now than at any other point that I've been here. I remember when I started, people would copy what I was doing in the hope that they'd get a vote. But I was always thinking about the next thing that I wanted to do... very few people do that any more. They go to where the contests are... where the votes are and just stay there.
I've started looking at users who did their achievement 1 a month ago (so tracking day-for-day) to see if I can give them a little boost. Interestingly, there are already very few at this point and one of the ones I found yesterday has shown a bit of determination, despite being a terrible author (and possibly plagiarising) and getting pretty much zero rewards. It'll be interesting to see if I can get anywhere with them 🙂 Another pet project that they won't know about 😆
We gave them seven years of time. Its time to strike as an All Steem Team (AST).