Why not STEEM?
Something I've noticed in different crypto groups. Pretty much ever since Steemit and STEEM became a thing two years ago.
Whenever non-BTC coins are being discussed, and people ask what other people are hodling, ask for suggestions on what they should buy, etc. first of all, no one ever brings up STEEM, but if I do it, I tend to always get ridiculed.
It happens every single time.
If I bring up the tech behind STEEM, which makes it a more viable coin than BTC by a mile, people look at me like I'm an idiot for hodling something like STEEM.
It's silly because, despite how I feel about Steemit, the site, STEEM, the blockchain, is still the best out there and it's not even close. It may change when EOS finally launches proper, but right now STEEM is the very best blockchain, based purely on its tech.
But people look at me like I'm mentally challenged whenever I praise STEEM.
They don't do it when I say I hodl DASH, Ethereum, Monero, hell, even Doge.
My point is that there's something about STEEM's image that turns people off. I'd like to get some discussion going on about what it might be.
Is is the circulating supply? Is it the fact that anybody can just post shit on the internet and get STEEM for free? The poor to simply non-existent management?
Something else?
I feel like this is an important problem to solve.
In my opinion, the problem is that people see Steemit as Steem, they don't differentiate between the blockchain and the site. Which is actually true, what is the added value of Steem without steemit?
And let's be completely honest, the site is not really the best way to market Steem, with the downvote wars, heaps of useless context and exceedingly unimpressive UI.
There are some hurdles to overcome:
Currently, I don't know what to do with steem or sbd, except to convert it to fiat. This process is cumbersome and stupid, and should be changed.
We need to be able to purchase items using normal steem or SBD or convert it into fiat instantly in an easy process.
It feels like you're being punished or forced to stay put when you want to get something out of the system. Powering up and delegating are instant, but getting something back takes 7 days (delegate) or 13 weeks (power down). Stupid!
The company behind Steem may be working very hard on new stuff, but their communication is seriously lacking. What's the status of new developments, like smart contracts and communities? What's also not helping is that you cannot contact them, at least no way I know.
A friend of mine to the create an account, which went all the way to the SMS received and entered, and there it stops. No email or anything after that. And like I mentioned before, how to contact someone about it?? Registration must be instant, it is the lifeline of a social network.
When someone first finds the site, they see payouts of between 30 and 300 dollars.
I understand you need to build a group of followers, but the way steemit works now, that is virtually impossible. So a large group looses interest very quickly, which adds to all the negative press we're already receiving out there.
There is a lot more that needs to change in order to become a really successful site, but these are some of the issues that just pop into my mind.
Great points well made. Agreed.
It's the reward system that is difficult to come to grips with. All talk is about how much a post or comment gets in upvote value.
Yeah, zerofee transactions with huge scalability and very high speed are things that nearly no other chains have achieved and yet all talk about Steem is always about the rewards.
Maybe we should have an SMT where daily rewards are simply evenly airdropped to every single wallet, without accounting for weighted upvotes.
I mean, that way we won't pretend that the reward system leads to quality content, and we only left with an extremely fast, solid, scalable and secure peer to peer cash system.
How about that?
Partly because of general lack of understanding, and partly because this is an experiment that is very hard to understand. I bet 90% on Steemit aren't even that interested in blockchain technology or cryptos. They stumbled upon it because they googled "how to make money online" and then got into it - learning a little bit about cryptos as they went on and learned how to convert steem to btc and then to fiat etc.
Even people who are fairly into crypto currencies have problems understanding the complexity of Steem and steemit. I do to to be honest. Every time I sit down and try to calculate and figure it out my brain runs low on IQ.
We all know that there is no such thing as free money. So where does the reward come from? Does it come from the inflationary nature? Does it come from people investing in the platform and locking up SP? Can it come from advertising and/or sponsored posts in the future? (More and more of that is happening btw)
The STEEM-blockchain though is simply brilliant. No fees, super fast and very convenient. It's been running for years now with no issues.
And the STEEMI-IT platform will probably change and evolve in the future. But money needs to come from somwehere. And that's where I think a lot of people struggle. We, who use Steemit are more likely to be people who are able to believe in new ideas and concepts of what money is, how its created and valued etc. That's why I'm willing to bet on Steemit - because "what is money?" "What is currency"? "How is something valued?" Most people aren't interested in that. They stick to what the powers that be tell them is OK. They are very scared of doing and saying something wrong. They seek acceptance in numbers.
"This is the right thing to do, isn't it?" is a typical question from an insecure human. They don't have any hardcoded values, so they seek approval from others.
If we ask the question on a deeper level..where does "normal"value come from? It comes from goods and services that are exchanged into a medium (fiat currency)
In the future though, value can and should be other things than just food and oil. It can and should be knowledge, online services, instructions, answers to questions - everything. In a modern world, that is just as valuable as producing grain or making a car. And IMO Steemit is an experiment in how those new services are going to be rewarded.
Some might call it a potential scam, a ponzi etc..but if people did the reasarch and looked into Dan Larimer - one will realize that he is an idealist and a genius. So he didn't make this platform to be a ponzi scheme. He made a very intricate system for valuing content/knowledge so that the creators will be paid, instead of facebook etc will take that knowledge from you and make money off of it instead of you.
So, I'm sure there could be flaws to the system...but Steem and steemit is nontheless a giant leap forward.
fantastic points!!! i think you're spot on when referring to people's lack of internal core and seeking approval from the outside. it will take time to educate the public and get the people who only hop onto something when all their friends are doing it to join steemit, but that day will come <3
I think there is an image problem because of the way that it is earned (freely) as people who do not understand all of the ins and outs of it may think it an unlimited coin.
There is also the fact that a lot of what is earning here is relatively shit which gives a very poor impression of overall quality. Without understanding the blockchain tech behind it, Steem is Steemit and even most people here don't seem to understand that Steemit can go to hell yet, there is still value in the Steem blockchain.
Perhaps this is why so many people here also treat Steem like some kind of freebie to be used to buy other 'more worthy' coins or buy whatever random nonsense they find important right now. To those people i say good riddance tbh as while Steem is undervalued, those that look long can collect cheaply.
I am not a technical person so don't know all of the minute details but, as far as blockchains and potential uses, Steem is superior in most respects and has a massive amount of versatility possible. At some point this will likely become obvious to the market and all those that thought it 'free' are going to be in for a very big surprise and will regret their short-sightedness.
For now though, collect, hodl.
It is maybe something like 'Why should I buy a coin if I can earn it ?'.
In the long run this is maybe not as worse as it seems.
People are working for fiat. They do not buy it, they spend it.
Like you said, they probably can't see past the fact that people can post garbage and get paid a ton of money for it. They haven't been able to see that Steem (the token) is different than Steemit (the interface). If they were able to see the difference, they'd understand. If SBD were pegged to $1 like it was designed to be, then more merchants could use it for commerce, and the value of Steem would explode! Who wouldn't want instantaneous transactions with little-to-no transaction costs? Until that happens though, Steem will be linked to Steemit... and will probably not get the respect it deserves.
Seems most people are OK with buying crypto as an investment but totally unwilling to consider it for what it actually is, a currency to be used between individuals. Whilst most content on Steemit admittedly is shit, I think it's just the basic content of using crypto that turns them off...
Point 1 - distribution. The fact that Steemit inc with a few top managers used to control about 90% of initial supply.
By now it's probably more like 70%, but it's still a lot.
excellent point and the first one that came to mind. i think this is the single largest initial turn-off factor. if people can get over that, the reasons listed above by @rmz are all very valid!
I think it's not about the tech or that people post tons of shit.
In my opinion it's because of greed and stupidity:
Greed: People want to get rich quick, they like pump and dumps so they can feel like the greatest trader or most intelligent person for hodling.
Stupidity: People don't care if it's a scammy project (e.g. Bitconnect). Many have $ signs in their eyes and invest in the biggest scams out there.
Steem has a use case and that's Steemit. The content quality is questionable and the implementation supports the already rich and greedy.
But it's a great use case and brings people to blockchain in an easier way.
And it had it's gains regarding the Steem token.
I'm happy to hear more opinions...
Do we really need mass adoption ? Or should we be happy with a world where the majority is living in a regulated world, forcing states to control the banks ?
i love steem and even when its down like this time buy it!!!! great crypto. the others maybe dont understand or wanna have fast money...you know the mind of humans....
here you got a fan of steem and sbd right now.
crypto hugs
@akashas
You are right after one or two years a man will say other listen.....! I got 0.01 steem and he will so happy .