Two simple suggestions for a better Promotion system
The idea is to have a better promotion system.
But also, two beneficial side effects could be -
- Reduce the need for vote buying.
- Somewhat increase Steem's value.
People want to promote their posts, but currently there's no direct solution to this other than powering up Steem (very expensive). Instead, vote buying and SP delegation services have taken hold. Those services are nothing but hacks and Band-Aids, with many pitfalls, but they have clearly signalled the demand for a better promotion system.
So, I here are two old ideas, it's time for a reminder -
ONE) The promotion value boosts posts up the Trending pages. Currently, the promoted posts are stuck in the 'promoted', an isolated section few visit. Most people spend their time in their preferred tags (and in future, Communities), where the default sort order is Trending sitewide. The promotion value should have the same effect as vote buying - i.e. boost the post up the trending pages. Authors will not actually earn any more, but they'll get the exposure they want.
Note that this would be a frontend feature, just like the current Promoted and the upcoming Hivemind. The algorithm for how the promotion amounts affects its spot on Trending will need to be determined, to balance between promotion and stakeholders' voting.
TWO) Promote with Steem. Pretty simple, option to burn Steem in addition to SBD. The promotion feature was first developed when Steem network had a critical amount of SBD debt. It was seen as a solution to remove some of that crippling debt burden by burning SBDs - in return for promotion. So, this system would offer an option for promoting with Steem. When SBD is under $1, authors will be incentivised to promote with SBD. When SBD is over $1, people will promote with Steem. Any Steem or SBD burned reduces supply and increases price.
The Steem network assumes 1 SBD = 1 USD, so it would be greatly beneficial to promote with Steem at a time when SBD is over the moon. E.g. a $10 promotion will cost SBD 10 ($100 today), while the same $10 promotion would cost only 5.7 Steem (worth $10 today).
The major drawback for a more effective promotion system previously were fears that it'd reduce demand for Steem Power. Well, with vote buying and SP delegations, that discussion is no longer relevant. Burning Steem is the next best option currently. Who knows, this can start a bidding war where tons of Steem is burned!
I think the biggest problem is not the system itself but how promoted posts are seen I don't think putting it in trending itself is a good idea. I would rather find the best content, not crappy propaganda from the rich. A bar on the side (like youtube) is all that is needed to make it worth it to promote and easy to find similar posts
We see that anyway through poor curation, questionable SP delegation and vote buying already :) Point taken though, which is why I suggested an algorithm which gets the best blend.
Excellent suggestions. I like The idea of a self correcting system which facilitates price discovery equilibrium in a more organic and decentralized way.
I think these are excellent ideas. I agree that something needs to change with the “promoted” feature. I check lots of tags, but I stopped checking the promoted tab a while ago. I used to promote my posts, and I have bought votes before. I quit promoting my post when the feature was broken a while ago. I also quit vote-buying due to not seeing much of a difference. Right now, I couldn’t even consider doing either thing. As you said, it takes sbd, and sbd is more valuable than it was. I’m afraid to risk it, as I have never noticed it to make much of a difference anyway. Of course, maybe I was doing it all wrong. I was pretty new, and I was basically just doing what I saw others do.
Those ideas have their merits.
I'm glad @teamsteem is listening in.
Thank you very much @liberosist for your excelent post. I am a new steemian. I dont understanding how to improve my steemit account? I get that question's solve in your post . I will try to follow your rule in steemit. Thank you again.
I don't think I have ever looked at the "Promoted" section of my feed. But I think you are right, having the promoted posts show up in the Trending section would do well to get those posts more exposure.
The only issue I see is that it may them become an arms race with those users who have the most money getting their posts promoted over those smaller users (like me).
I love your content @liberosist !
I didn't even think of that! Kind of like driving with a flat tire, no?
I'm afraid I didn't follow this metaphor :)
I look at burning steem as a bad thing. On one hand we would be benefiting temporarily, but in the long run its not a good thing to do. IMHO.
I may not understand how this works.
It is a proposal that seems to have a positive side in the development of steam. What @liberosist describes seems to refer to the flaws of the system that need to be corrected. But I think the current system is adequate, while we are waiting for better development. Several discussions, and conversations in the chat room of important people in steemit lead to the growth of fresh new things and more useful. As it is said @anarchyhasnogods it is representative of the current requirement. What is discussed today are two interesting and very appropriate sides if both occur. There are many things that need to be added in support of the strength of steemit to face intense competition and it will certainly reach to what is described by @ liberosist. This is very interesting and I respect your arguments. Regards.
The idea of burning steem to bring a post to the promotion post is good but what about new users who are yet to earn even a steem, there probably would be no way to evade the low visibility problem, so looking at the above, it will still favour users with enough steem more or less a bidding also where users get to use steem to bring their post to the promotion page and users with enough steem will tend to trend there unless a limit is put in place restricting the amount of time a post can be promoted
You can't have everything. It's a free market - if you want to promote yourself, you can engage with the community. That is free and most effective. If you want to buy promotion, then you'll have to pay for it. Naturally, it'll be time limited just like the Trending page is now.
yes I had to learn the hard way, when I first joined but later joined some group and then team curie helped me out really grateful to all the community helping me so far, just wished there was a way to show minnows who recently joined that there are other means to get their work viewed