Newbie Perspective on the Steemit Promote Button
@steemitblog posted about the new promote button which has come with some mixed reviews across the platform. I'd like to share my thoughts on what was stated and my own less-than-stellar results from using it. Please note that I will be sharing my perspective and in no way an expert but I would ask that anyone who has greater knowledge than I do about it to post a comment, okay?
Closing the loop on the Steem economy
If you think about it, we are all marketers. We create content, curate, comment, upvote and share material that is of interest or important to us. As an advocate marketer, I love promoting other people and tracking their growth. On the other hand, I am not so good at promoting my self, which is why I'm a little excited about the promote button... but only a little excited.
Firstly, I think closing the loop on the Steem economy is a great idea to help increase value. While I am not a market watcher, the value of my account has gone up and down like a yo-yo with more of a downward trend. A tool to strengthen the value tells me that the developers are really thinking long-term sustainability, which eases my mind that this will not be another flash in the pan site. I feel more confident about the time and energy I have been dedicating here.
How does it work?
According to the article, all money used toward the promote button is going into a @null account where it will sit until the next hardfork (site update). Not one person, not even the developers owns or controls this account, which tells me that no one can take those funds to power up or transfer (though I do wonder if it collects interest?)
If my interpretation is correct, all funds collected will then be redistributed to "all stakeholders."
What isn't clear to me is:
- who are the stakeholders?
- will the funds be redistributed equally or based on some unknown algorithm?
- do "all stakeholders" mean even the inactive accounts?
It was also stated that every dollar used to promote articles will help offset the debt load of the forum.
While I do not quite understand the digital currency market, I am bright enough to know that value is determined by supply and demand. The value of Steem has been plunging because too many people are playing the system for quick rewards and not putting enough value back into the system to keep it steady. Hence those pesky market corrections which has lowered the value to where, in my humble opinion, it ought to be until it stabilizes and finds solid ground to work up from again.
The @null account is basically taking your donated Steem dollars and using it as crowdfunding for the greater good of the platform. KUDOS TO THE DEVELOPERS I think this is a great idea and something that I can be on board with as a true Steem-believer.
The value of promoted content
Oy. Where do I begin with this? Value of content is purely subjective.
I've skimmed through the titles and articles on the promoted page and... well... I'm not impressed. Really not impressed by the material being promoted.
Here's the problem. The people who can afford to put a good chunk of money toward self-promotion are the people who already have the STEEM or are connected to people with deep pockets.
Of course there is an expectation for a return on investment (ROI) because the more promotion money put toward a post, the higher their post sits, whether it was posted 2 minutes ago or 23 hours ago.
It makes sense to throw 100 STEEM at your post promotion if you're pretty confident that it's going to make 1000.
Sadly, the majority of Steemit users are new, have little to donate to the greater good, or simply have no active following.
Many cannot afford to gamble away their hard-earned pennies.
So I did a little experiment
I created an evergreen post - something that should stand the test of time. In my opinion, it's quality material.
HELPFUL TIPS: Seven 5-gallon bucket ideas for good fun and budget savings
August 31, 2016: 115 followers.
My blog has 10 upvotes and 4 comments - 2 of which are my responses.
At the time of this post, it's made 14 cents subject to change
With a sense of curiosity, I hit the promotion button and donated $1 and headed over to the promotions page where I scrolled...
And scrolled...
And scrolled...
Until I finally saw my post.
And one thought occured to me. NO ONE IS GOING TO SEE IT
Why? Because like Google searches, it's RARE to go past page 3 before you find what you're looking for - or give up.
Frankly, I nearly gave up looking for my own post!
Here is the screenshot when my post was 7 hours old:
Here is the screenshot about 17 hours later:
Do you see any significant changes there beyond the big red circle?
Promoted content only remains on the promoted page until your first payout (24 hours).
Now don't get me wrong. I am not complaining I'm merely pointing out that my results were exactly as I expected them to be.
I did not get a return on my measly investment. In fact, some might say I lost money on the deal.
But did I?
I choose not to think so because IF my dollar is going toward the greater good and people are donating greater amounts toward the @null account, then by my interpretation of what @steemitblog stated, I should get rewarded at the next hardfork, right?
While my ego is a little bruised, I'm wondering what the redistribution of those funds will look like?
And again, I am left wondering - am I a stakeholder? What's my cut going to be?
Final thoughts
Dear newbies and steadfast minnows,
I am not going to say: post promotion is a waste of your money because I don't think it is.
You may not get the attention, the upvotes, or anyone else promoting your content -- but there is a chance (albeit a small one) that you will get noticed.
So here are my suggestions - not because I'm an expert but because I'm a realist.
- Keep writing the content that you love.
- Keep commenting, curating, and upvoting those quality posts.
- Spend a dollar here and there - whether it's on your own post or a friend's - but don't go broke doing it.
- Take time to build an organic following and be an active member of someone else's tribe.
Perhaps your donated dollars will bring a reward...later. Just don't let your ego ruin a good thing.
Most importantly - DON'T QUIT.
Click here for @steemitblog's original post
Thanks for visiting! Your comments and upvotes are greatly appreciated so don't hold back now! :)
Meredith Loughran blogs at ScribblingBandits.com | Follow her on Twitter & SnapChat or LinkedIn
Hi Meredith, I can try to explain how the dollars sent to @null help everyone.
The SBD sent to @null are "burned" which really just means they are stuck there and will never re-enter circulation and be dumped on the market. This makes the existing SBD and steem that much more valuable.
Imagine if you were on a desert island with four other people and for some reason, each one of you had a gold coin. So your coin would be one fifth of all the gold on the island.
But then Joe goes fishing, and being protective of his coin keeps it in his pocket. Then tragically, the coin slips out of his pocket and gets washed out to sea. Poor Joe. Now there are only 4 coins on the island, you'd be holding one fourth of all the wealth.
Whether @null earns any interest doesn't matter as the interest will be stuck as well. The hard fork will just make it so that @null doesn't hold a balance anymore, but that's purely cosmetic.
I love your example of the gold coins @neoxian - it makes perfect sense, but @steemitblog's article states:
So does that mean an actual redistribution of said funds or, as you say, the payment is through increasing the value of STEEM? I've also read that there is a certain amount of STEEM that's "newly minted" every day, so the promote page funds may realistically work as a counter-balance to that? I don't know. My mind...she does wander.
I might have it wrong, but i'm pretty sure that proceeds sent to @null won't be distributed directly to all users. That would be highly impractical and not necessary because the value will automatically to distributed to all from the deflation effect I mentioned above.
Good insight on this. That sounds accurate.
I won't be promoting any of my posts I find this is aimed at the members who can afford to put € in knowing they will get a good return.
I haven't decided how I'm going to treat the promoted pages -- or how often I'm going to hit the button. As @phoenixmaid mentioned, I may throw a dollar here and there for my friends, but I'll probably be selective about where the earnings go.
to be honest i have no intention of visiting the promoted page at all, as you say those who can use it can afford to and their posts will most likely appear on the tranding pages somewhere.
I may however throw a few dollars at promoting posts i come across that i feel should be getting more attention when i'm in a better position to do so.
to behonest as the site grows I think the promoted page will become just another page for advertising companies to post adverts very loosely disguised as content.
I had a go @phoenixmaid to see how it worked, it took a few attempts as I had to log in with a different key. I ended up putting through a payment twice by accident! Once I had worked it out I tried promoting someones post, as they were having similar issues to me, and I managed to get it to work. I don't think it would be something that I would use. I don't check the promoted feed, so why would I promote my post there? I may use it to promote other peoples posts as there area few people I think deserve a bit of a spotlight- is promote that place? I don't know.
Oh no @opheliafu! I would be so frustrated if that happens to me. Are you sure you didn't take over my body for a little while because that kind of stuff always happens to me. LOL
I've been checking the promoted page and it's a lot of the same people on the trending page. Only difference is their post is only up for 24 hours rather than in perpetuity.
And it's rather disheartening when I see people delete their posts and still making money. But I digress - I can't focus on that kind of stuff or I'll rip out my hair.
Yes, @phoenixmaid, it seems that's the way of it - those who can afford it will do it.
Too bad there isn't an algorithm set for mid-level to low level reputations with consistent activity to have their own promotions page so that the whales could actually find us instead of shifting through the same old crap. Ah well.
Kind of a great idea, to have a minnow-specific promotion page. I feel a quivering in the force. A dev has had a break through. A cog has begun its slow, inevitable, crank of other cogs. Somehow, with more genius than I could comprehend, there will be ways for the bests posts to rise via minnow power. Yes!
Thank you for looking into this. I admire your openness and willingness to talk about mostly down yo-yoing (ga!) and ego bruising. You will be increasingly loved. This post constitutes a service.
Thank you for the kind words, @pulpably
Hopefully my shared experiences will help new people. I'm still trying to get more of my friends over here!
I've reached out to many of my friends too. A few have joined, but no one has gotten excited or had anything like the feeling I do about it. I feel like a freshman in college! I'm so floored that geeks are cool here and the library is jaw-dropping and I've got so much to learn and my whole life ahead of me. Pretty great to be feeling that way at my age! It's been a rocky week for many on Steemit and yet I came through it more sure than ever that it will continue to be a sum good for me. It's nice to see those who joined around the same time investing, too.
I hate to say it, but many of my friends are satisfied with Facebook. They like the memes and birthday notifications, and occasional political rants. Too many use "I'm not a writer" as an excuse. Their loss. Really. Because there are so many people on this forum that go beyond writing. They draw, crochet, share their videos, and find some other way to lend their voice. But I'm okay with them rotting and drooling in FB because I've got a whole pool of like-minded explorers here -- and that's exciting :)
I definitely see this. Steemit is really different.
Thanks
You're welcome :)
I like your take on the wisdom of the @null account, and I'm glad that @neoxian chimed in.
To be on top of the promoted page I do believe you now have to put in at least 200 dollar.
No way in hell, not one hair on my head and no one damn freaking way I am going to do that. Lmao
That is rather ridiculous but hey... if it's geared toward advertisers then 200 is chump change compared to millions of dollars for a 30 second advertising spot on TV. Ah well. I guess the little guys just have to keep working harder to build our following and grow organically :)