WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT?

How did you use social media before you discovered steem/hive?

So I started using Facebook around 2008 as an anonymous entity. My primary goal to find hot girls across the globe I could talk to. I was around 14, very curious and bursting with hormones. I didn't want to connect with people I already knew and mainly what I posted were my personal thoughts and jokes. On certain occasions, I would say something that resonated with someone and they would like my post or comment, and that created a desire for engagement--creating things other people would value.

At some point, I left Facebook for Twitter because there were fewer restrictions and I could share my thoughts freely. At some point, I began to gain a lot of followers and engagement. The conversation on twitter was fluid and random. It wasn't a space for virtual signaling and rage tweets like it now. Most conversations were driven by the trending tags, and these tags and topics we're relevant issues around our immediate environment.

At some point, I started blogging. I developed an interest in poetry. I also used that opportunity to talk extensively about things that interest me--love, relationship, self-growth, etc I think my primary need then was to be heard--attention.

Currently, my needs are more economical than social and that drives my social activities. I still spend some time on Twitter but that's usually after I have posted on hive or any of the sites where I monetize my content.

The whole point of this backstory is to define my posting habits and how it's primarily influenced by my environment which can either be physical or virtual.

I think if we look back at our social experience prior to steem/hive, a lot was different. This behavior isn't consistent across other social platforms as many of us still manage to discuss and engage differently from the way we do here without any expectation to earn and it's far more fulfilling.

As stated above my social experience is currently hinged on my economic need. I belong to a small group of people who actually make money off the internet via their content. This is not the same for the vast majority of users of the internet. The internet is filled with attention seekers and spectators.

I am an attention seeker. I'm putting content into the cyberspace to attract value. Value in my terms will be money while for others it's basically social clout/influence. Many social media platforms have generated a lot of revenue from people's social activities. For the masses, this is justified because they don't have to worry about the backend stuff.

I think many underestimate the work needed to run a decentralized social platform like ours where people actually earn from their social activities. The average hive/steem user knows those who run the backend activities of the blockchain because they voted them. They also keep track of their activities to make sure theirs and that of the block producers align. They also have to worry about the economies of the reward system, protect it, improve it, etc and we wonder why the masses aren't trooping in here and how we struggle with retention rates. It is a lot of work

Hive is more technological and economically than it is social

The quality of our social experience is been impacted negatively by other aspects of the blockchain that are deemed more important. It also determines the value system. You're probably not going to be anyone of influence on hive if you're not engaged in its governance. Who would you consider to be the most successful content creator here? What does he/she talk about? Chances are he/she maximalist like myself who has spent a considerable amount of time churning out posts upon post about hive, it's governance and ecosystem. It's all seems good until you try moving some of those content else and realizing that they have little or no value outside this ecosystem.

WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT?

I think engagement is more organic when people are engaging out of interest and not of necessity. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You can align your needs to earn your desires/interest. One of the major reasons why the community aspect of the hive blockchain must work.

As a content creator on hive, you should also endeavor to engage in its politics and also discuss things you care about. That's how I find my balance. Believe it or not, but what can actually keep you relevant on this space is how aware you are about its politics. This isn't just restricted to hive's governance. You also have to consider the policies and sentiment around the project. At the end of the day, anyone there to create a product or service must meet a demand or create one.