Making money on social platforms: First order and second order benefits

First order vs Second order compensation on social platforms

One of the most interesting things about Steem, regardless of whether you're interested in Bitcoin, is the fact that it's a social platform that directly compensates participants natively.
Plenty of social platforms can financially benefit you in indirect ways (I know many people who've gotten jobs from Twitter, projects from Instagram, and paid to post on Tumblr... by a third party). These second order benefits are undeniably valuable and worth discussing. But they're not the same as native in-platform monetization.

YouTube: the go-to first-order example
YouTube on the other hand is a platform that enables you to make money without leaving the platform. It doesn't end up being a big money maker for most creators. But they get everything they need inside the platform. No need to establish high-touch relationships or make bespoke deals. They just gotta flip a couple of switched in their accounts, then they're revenue sharing.

But what other social platforms share revenue so directly? It's not that mature. Last year I'd say, "almost nobody" does revenue sharing like YouTube. But that's changing fast.  This year Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have all either teased or partially launched some sort of revenue sharing.

Because this stuff changes so fast, I made a spreadsheet that tracks which social platforms have native monetization.

As you can see, it's mostly dry. but with many signs of life springing up here and there.

Steem enthusiasts should pay special attention attention to social live video streaming app/site YouNow, which is especially popular with teenagers. Why? It's a fun vision of the future for Steem. It allows users to gift each other virtual currency/gifts that translates into real money. All in an easy to user interface.

I also want to acknowledge a big missing presence in that spreadsheet- Twitch. I'm aware that people make money on Twitch. :D
Just still deciding how to normalize its types compensation for the spreadsheet.

Anyway, the screenshot will get out of date dast. The spreadsheet is regularly updated. So feel free to bookmark the spreadsheet and check in regularly. (And yes, if steem gets bigger I will add it to the spreadsheet. :D)