Attention lost in the 3 second attention economy

Steem city is growing and like the last post, the draw on attention is diversifying. I commented recently to someone that while people might be earning enough now, if they aren't creating a foundation of some kind, somewhere for themselves they might find tat in the future, they will struggle to maintain earning. This is because not only will there be compeelling new users coming into the space to pull eyes away, there will also be multiple ways to use stake.

Stake through the heart

As we can see from the last two years on the blockchain where bidbots have dominated the staked landscape, people of course want to earn with their stake, not just consume and for many, the curation returns are not enough. And really, why should it be when there are so many other ways that stake can be used.

Resource credits, the bandwidth of Steem, will eventually be put into pools and can be used as a non-voting currency in itself in various ways, including the ability to create artefacts on steem, much like they can be used to create accounts now. For example, a game could utilize them to create transactions on the blockchain to create various objects that are blockchain verified and trackable. Or any number of other uses that will put a demand on RCs in more ways than just to comment, post or transfer Steem.

Opportunity cost investing strategies

Also, like I mentioned with the delegation to applications, there will be increasing amounts of points that will attract holders to delegate to a project, especially if that project is going to be issuing tokens that could be worth something in the future. What this means is that Steem will likely see a decrease in rewards that go to posts themselves and an increase in delegations that go to projects with tokens that will be rewarded to users of different platforms.

It is possible that the Steem Reward pool becomes, the Steem Investment pool as it will be leveraged as an investment currency. This doesn't take away the value of Steem either and could actually increase it as it becomes a reduced risk investment vehicle as the investment amount isn't lost if a project fails, the delegation just gets removed. The cost is of course time and subsequent opportunity to invest into some other project that might flourish on Steem.

Love me today, forget me tomorrow

For two years (since I started to understand the platform more) I have recognized the importance of powering up and in my opinion, that pressure is mounting the further Steem and crypto mature. Those that haven't been might find themselves struggling to not only get votes and traction but having to continually work very hard for attention of any kind. Sure, people will just change platform but even that plan is going to eventually fall foul of the attention economy where it takes time and investment to build a profile.

We often talk about accounts on Steem but what is going to become much more important for contributors is going to be there profile as it will be that which will be the point of attention and remaining compelling enough to attract stake in a sea of users, projects and investment opportunities is going to take a certain kind of person. It won't ever be impossible, but the degree of difficulty is going to continually increase, much like mining Bitcoin. Proof of Brain is not about how smart one is, it is about how well one can adapt to the marketplace.

Ready to build again -- and again?

There is going to be an explosion of tokens across the internet and those who are able to understand and diver their resources and minds quickly will be the ones who can take the most advantage. While the chance to be an early adopter on a platform is high, eventually there will be a consolidation of platforms where the most lucrative ones are those that have the largest Stake behind them, meaning those that can pay the most to users. Of course, these are going to be under pressure due to the ability to both attract posters and consumers making competition high.

The game for some might be for some to target less popular platforms and tokens as the competition is lower. This could eventually lead to some kind of stability across the industry as not all are vying fr the same limited resources but are instead finding places that work the best for them, both from usecase and economic standpoints.

Of course the benefit of the decentralization of platforms on Steem is that a profile can maintain a wallet, a follower list and a reputation while still moving across interfaces and platforms - if they are on Steem at least. Who knows, in the future other blockchains might leverage that same follower list and make it transportable too.If anyone is semi-popular on a a centralized platform, try starting a new account or, try moving platform and see who follows.

The digital golden ticket

How I see it though is that we are all early adopters here now, no matter what stake we currently hold and are all part of the decentralization of the industry and in so being, part of the economic mass that will support many of those to come into the sphere. The more that come in, the harder it becomes to make inroads, the later in, the more already here.

I have seen Steem (and early adoption of crypto) as somewhat of a digital golden ticket to an economic future with a potential that far outweighs the investment in. While I do believe there are risks, the upside vs downside is worth it for me in my estimation. It is okay if others don't agree, it is okay if others sell, it is okay if people think I am an idiot as the beauty of owning crypto is, it is mine - to do with as I choose. What you hold is yours.

While I know many might disagree or feel that what I say will never come to pass, it doesn't mean it won't come about and when it comes to investing, this is the uncertainty that brings value. I don't mind talking about it because I would rather everyone have access to information so that they can decide for themselves, even though it might be better not to tell anyone at all and just play against them like the banks do.

Sell, Sell, Sell!!! while they, Buy, Buy, Buy!!! - Before pushing the prices back up and cashing in on the FOMO.

Every 3 seconds Steem changes

Why I talk about stake so often is because there are plenty of people who still believe that the pool is always going to be active in the same way or, should be used in a certain way - despite all evidence proving otherwise. It isn't going to act like anyone wants as long-term as it will continually shift based on how we as staked users choose to use it. While the pool doesn't belong to anyone directly, it is staked and those stakes can be called upon with every, vote and delegation, or lost at every powerdown and sell. The way the pool is staked is in a continual state of flux driven by us, the Steem users. So, it doesn't matter what you believe should be the case, the case is what the case is and in 3 seconds, the case is going to change slightly again.

Every 3 seconds it is going to change slightly, whether you pay attention or not. One day, those 3 second changes will amount to years of development, growth and possibilities made into realities.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]