THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA WITH STEEMIT
Hello steemians,
in this article we will be taking an indepth review on steemit, its future, current problems and possibly solutions which might make it succeed.
I feel bad most times when i go through the daily feeds on steemit and find so many people on the platform with so limited knowledge of the totality of this platform, i can say barely 30% of the entire members here are truly aware of what the potentials of this platform possess or working inline with the whitepapers and vision of the steemit platform, the remaining 70% are just here to make quick money or probably see the platform as a means of getting rich quick.
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Well let me burst your bubble steemit is not a get-rich-quick ponzi scheme, in fact if you are among those who got in here with that mentality, you will be frustrated after few weeks or if probably if you have a high perseverance maybe you would last up a month and then finally quit it, its the hard truth.
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We can literally not talk about steemit without the underlying blockchain on which it runs on which is STEEM. And also you would agree with me that one doesnt go robbing a bank without first studying the blueprints of that bank or carrying out a detailed survey of his target... (and before you'all start thinking deep, lol, i havent robbed a bank before, hahahahahahah, too many hollywood movies, hahaha).
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Hence we cant really maximize the full potentials or work effectively in line with the true concept of the STEEM without first going through the steem whitepaper and understanding the foundation and purpose on which it was built.
WHAT IS STEEM?
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as defined on the whitepaper
Steem is a blockchain database that supports community building and social interaction with cryptocurrency rewards. Steem combines concepts from social media with lessons learned from building cryptocurrencies and their communities. Steem is the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of individuals who make subjective contributions to its community.
It is also paramount to be aware that unlike most cryptocurrency, Steem is a currency of inflation, this means the total supply of steem increases over time(the inflation rate is set to decrease a rate of 0.5% per annum and would only stop after 20.5years from the 16th hard fork in december 2016 which is est. 19years from now), most people may not agree or like the idea as scarcity in general increases the value of a commodity, however i believe based on the purpose on which the steem platform was built, this would not pose any problem to its value over time ceteres paribus , as from the birth time of the 16th hard fork in december 2016 the population of the steem community has increased immensely to over a million active users which is less than 2 years from the initiation of the steem blockchain.
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If the community growth continues at this pace then it would be great for the currency value as there would be an optimum demand for the currency to fit its inflation rate and also because cryptocurrencies have a network effect(more users make it more useful and of more value)
HOW DOES THE STEEM COMMUNITY PAYS/REWARDS ITS USERS.
As earlier said steem is a currency of inflation and because of this new tokens are created at an annual rate of 9.5% per year (from the time of the 16th hardfork in december 2016), from a rough calculation it implies that about roughly 22million Steem Token are created every year and out of these newly generated steems 75% of the total steem created are transferred to the reward pool, 15% are awarded to those who HODL Steem Power in their wallet and the remain 10% goes to the Witnesses
From the total percentage which goes to the reward pool, 75% is thereafter distributed between authors and 25% between the curators .
THE FUTURE WITH STEEM
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In the future i believe more decentralized social media platforms are going to evolve after the likes of steem however Steem would stand out among others and may probably be the GOOGLE of today in the future, this is because of two major reasons which i see,
1.A CHANGE IN MONETIZATION OF CONTENT: Most bloggers or content makers usually leverage the monetization of their works through countless adverts. Most if not all are fully aware the rate at which the ads could totally diminish viewers interest or make it less appealing, however due to the need of them getting adequate financial reward for their post or as a means of survival they have to monetize their content one way or the other.
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Sometimes, we encounter this while watching youtube videos and then an annoying advert pops up in display which must be watched for a certain time before the video continues, sometimes this happens also on most blogs while reading and you click a link and get redirected to another page or website entirely. This is totally annoying and reduces the satisfaction one ought to have gained from the content..
This is the part where steemit or other steem platforms like dtube comes in, with steemit authors or content makers need not monetize their content via ads that are not needed by their viewers as the platform has been designed in such a way where quality content makers get financially rewarded directly from the blockchain via community members through upvotes/likes of the post(proof of knowledge).
This would help both authors and viewers get maximum satisfaction from the content been made.
2. PROMOTION OF QUALITY CONTENT: Everyone gets motivated to do more when he/she is been appreciated for his/her efforts.
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With the blockchain reward system of steem more users and authors of quality original contents would be raised as they know the appreciation of their works would yield more financial returns and also the concept of the timestamp on the blockchain would make them feel safe against plagiarism or stolen content. (in the future the blockchain timestamp would be a valid evidence and proof in the court)
Everyone loves and needs money, what's best than getting it by doing what you love and as well developing your mental health.
CURRENT PROBLEMS OF STEEM AND WHAT COULD HINDER OR DELAY ITS SUCCESS
The major problem i see here on steem is the high consciousness of users to MONEY rather than in promoting quality contents and also the high usage of BOTS. Most authors in the platform with low quality contents get their post trending due to the use of bots however on the other hand authors with high quality content never get to be heard and possibly discouraged due to lack of finance to promote their post
note: the use of bots is not entirely bad as some good authors use this as well to stay top of the page and reach out to more
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However the steem system has almost been taken over by bot that even the top users known as the whales fully depends upon, we find it hard to see a post get highly rewarded without it using the bidbots or purchased votes. We see those with a high level of steempower instead of contributing and curating other users with quality content, they end up selling their votes to bots just so they can earn more daily rewards,
All these are centered to the high consciousness of the monetary reward while Neglecting the true purpose of the project, if things should go on the current way a lot of people would give up on the project and this great dream might only turn out to be a mirage and a mere fantasy.
THE MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN INCENTIVE OR MOTIVATION FOR YOUR WORKS AND NOT THE PURPOSE OF YOUR CONTENT.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE CURRENT PROBLEM
Personally i think a reduced level on the usage of bots would really go a long way in helping the community, most especially in the concept of vote selling and self voting, when people are not allowed to sell their vote they probably might reconsider giving it out to other users with quality content and of better curation value.
More Selfless or Delegated Curators: its not really easy to spend time going through the loads of blogs and daily content on steemit, however if a large number of high steem power or delegated curators can be voted for which could possibly curate at least 10-20 quality post each on a daily basis, we could see over 500 quality content authors been rewarded for their efforts; this will inturn help promote the community and also motivate the authors to do more.
One of the curator or witness i do admire is that of bryan under @themarkymark via the @buildawhale services, the buildawhale curation digest reviews daily post via their services and curate the top 10 best quality content as seen by their various curators. A service like this made across the entire steem network with more delegated curators would really be a massive boost .
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Account Registration: This has a way of affecting the mentality of the users, most especially those who get registered via the purchase of an account or by paying the registration fee. If steem really wants to excel as a social media then its account should have an express opening for all and not tied to the paying of fees to get registered, also the express account opening would increase the population of members and also make it easy for a non steemian who sees or appreciate your works to register and participate in voting or contributions via comments.
We all must as well play our individual role to make steemit a better community for us all neglecting if those with higher power do the needful or not together we can make this place a better and more rewarding community for everyone.
WHATS THE FUTURE OF STEEM TO YOU AND HOW CAN WE MAKE IT BETTER???
THANKS FOR READING
Regards
Nicholas Ilechie
Excellent Nicholas Ilechie I share your interest but I will not deny that I come to Steemit for the concept of making money ... I have been able to learn thanks to contributions from the same community (that's your case) that are really clear about the novel and enriching is this platform, I am surprised that in so little time has reached a million users and that this projected to be the google of the future. If so it would be prudent to use artificial intelligence in it, Facebook for now abort its mission, although it is premature to think about it, I know that they are working, thanks for your post and interest in motivating us. Happy day Nicholas
hahaha, not just you here for the benjamins(money), most of us are.
if the growth could continue this way, then steem would turn out to be massive and a very exciting community if also our contributions are taken into consideration and as a tool for development, however its still an experiment and i believe we will be glad we invested our time and money and ideas to make this experiment a success and as a means of fair and just income generation for the future members.
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you in my future post
It would seem that a great number of participants a on the platform are here to generate income by employing various mechanisms that sometimes results in content with limited appeal and real value. Left to be judged by it merits, a great deal of content probably would not be promoted were it not for 'bidbots' . That being said, I would tend to believe that the typical Person on Steemit who's primary Motivation is not seeking to make quick money but rather interested in providing genuine and well thought-out content is more concerned with communicating ideas and generating meaningful community engagement. Earning some financial rewards are an adjunct benefit. Nevertheless, a real concern for some people who post content to Steemit is what return on investment for their efforts can they realistically expect? Again, for some it comes down to is cost benefits analysis. If one commits significant time and effort in researching a topic, drafting and refining text, adding custom visual elements and making revisions and quality checks only to experience limited feedback if at all, after a time, one may reach the conclusion that is nothing to be gained in participating on the platform, as you may well understand.
One possible solution to this dilemma is showcase members who have faced similar challenges and have become successful without the aid of bidbots and the like. They can serve as mentors for helping other struggling members in improving their skills. Mentors can be presented with various incentives from among willing 'whales' or Steemit itself towards seeking out and developing promising 'minnows'. Beyond that, Steemit could find ways to encourage members activerly seek out meaningful content and reward authors with much less emphasis placed on whale or dolphin status. This would be good for the health of the community over the long run.
These discussions are very important for the community, thanks.
i totally agree with you, though the bidbots may have their demerits still they are not entirely bad as they pose a good level of benefits and reward , i can say to you that if not for the bidbots you probably might have not even see this post or interested in reading but due to the appreciated value laid on the post you might had found it interesting to read or probably seen it on your feed resteemed.
Like the biblical saying goes "the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." this is very true here on steem as well, as most good authors never get heard due to lack of finance to promote content and only those with adequate capital can be heard out loud in the entire steem community
Like you said as well:
this would be very helpful, if an open and transparent discord can be created in respect to this.
Steem is run by the witnesses, and only if the witnesses really have the benefits of the entire community at heart then it would be much easy as they possess a high amount of power.
However if some generous whales who also share the vision of steem can equally partake in this then it would be of great help. Personally from my studies and understanding i doubt if there is any one here who got successful on steemit without the bidbots (i'm not excluded as well) aside those who joined very early in the year 2016 and early 2017. Ever since the initiation of steembots and the high awareness things has entirely turned around and you barely finds successful authors without applying its usage.
It would be really motivating to discover authors who gained their way to success without its usage, however instead of finding such authors i would prefer we change the orientation of the young minnows with great potentials. those whom have already ascertained a high reputation and steem power(WHALES) can come into an open discord with those of low reputation and classified as minnows .
This will be of a very great help just s you well stated.
I really do hope other great authors and powerful steemians get to read or agree to this contribution.
Thanks for your contribution and thank you for stopping by.
I actually saw your reply on a comment and came to see this post... Totally agreed:
"THE MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN INCENTIVE OR MOTIVATION FOR YOUR WORKS AND NOT THE PURPOSE OF YOUR CONTENT."
As for your ideas, I don't think people will stop abusing bots nor will people stop making them until some sort of mentality and game-changing rules are placed. However helping curators is something we can work for and that will GREATLY enhance the long term potential of this platform... but curation rewards are a little weird too, so most curators are actually selfless people (I'd actually like to help curate but my SP is like... pffffftttttt).
As for the express registration, trust me, that's a BAD idea, right now we've avoided many bullets just because users need some patience to enter steemit... unless you're serious in writing and helping others you probably won't join if you need to wait a few weeks.
And well, let's face it, for most people 50 or 60 bucks isn't going to solve anything, most of the people that REALLY expect to make cash are in this for the long term, just like stakeholders do when buying a penny stock, it's up to us if we make this a winning platform or not.
you make good points and thanks for the criticism i see reasons with you on the ground of express registrations, good point there, however a community with more powerful curators and excellent authors would be very helpful as well.
As most with high steem power find it hard to go through the minnows post as its barely seen....
Anyway thanks for stopping by hope to see you in my future posts
@nicholasilechie steem is very bright future in social media.steem content is very good.but other social media content is uninformative and hatefull.
No doubt steem has a bright future, and will be a great base or source of quality original content to the entire public than any other social media willl, only if its well groomed and structured and its members works with it original vision.
Thanks for stopping by
those greedy people using bots really sucks man, i dont have any more words to say to them, too much annoying sometimes, they are the one who is slowly destroying the steemit community. Infact i can say, those bots users only talk to robots, but im here to talk to real humans.
Well, though the bots have its demerits they also do have some great positive rewards and good merits, and only if a proper usage of it is utilised aside the quest for money generation then it would be very helpful...
Fantastic post.. Yes you are right steem is Botonised..like how British colonized India and took all its wealth..Bots have colonized Steem and they are doing the same.
well i guess they have there merits and demerits however i hope the future of steem turns out better than what it is today else the project may only be of favour to only the elites with high steem power and the bot developers.
I do not know much about the history of india though but the british also colonised my country Nigeria, and its their thing, lol.
Hope we all colonies get to better ourselves as they had probably left the leaders with so much lust to corruption...
However theres a belief i have that "the source of wealth never runs dry if only we know how to properly harness it." theres so much wealth there in india and here also in africa, the problem we face is in harnessing this wealth and spreading it across, its the reason why America or most of the great nations in the world remain great, they may not have much natural resource as we do but know fully well how to maximally harness their resources and spread it among their citizens...
Thanks for reading and hope to see you some other time
You have a minor misspelling in the following sentence:
It should be across instead of accross.To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
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Thanks
Excellent article post sir.
thank you for reading