Building the narrative of Steem

I think that one of the things that many struggle with when explaining Steem to those who are not on Steem is that they are unable to really explain what it is, something that even we on Steem struggle to come to terms with.

For me, when I need to understand a concept, no matter how complex it may be I break it down into small pieces and stories that help me visualize what is going on. This requires hitting 4 distinct points and tend to flow in this order:

• Why
• What
• How
• What if

Why are the reasons this is important, What are the details of this thing, How are the processes involved and What if are the future potential applications of whatever I am considering at this time. I use these 4 points when training, I use them when emailing, I use them when I need to get my point across and have some call to action.

Answering the questions of Steem through this framework provides a good basis for anyone to understand concepts, but adding narrative drives points home.

But, for every person the stories that engage them might change depending on their background. It is because of this that it is useful to have a deep pool of arguments why, and of course at least some basics of what, how and some examples of future potentials for the what if.

I personally am a what if type who likes to take the information I gather and imagine where it could lead or other applications for it. In regard to Steem, I spend a lot of thought on ways it could improve the current digital lives we lead and support a more equitable society. I think long though and not everyone wants to push their investment mindset out to that length. Because of this, I also try to fill short term variables with some more compelling points to hold attention while "waiting" for the future.

Many people only talk about the potential to earn through Steem, but I think the possibility to own is much more important as it provides basis for future earning, owning and allocation of personal resources - including increasing mobility. One can move country without it costing ownership or earning through content creation or curation. That is pretty cool.

But again, we live in a world of consumption and for many, the story needs to satisfy their immediate wants. This is a challenge because prices are so low that very few can use earnings to buy anything much, but to do so is going to cost them a lot of their future.

A 50 dollar meal which is common in Finland, is about 300 Steem, a massive amount. But that same 300 in 5 years from now might buy 60 or 100 similar meals or, be usable through a vote to decrease the direct price of the meal without selling a Steem at all. Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to vote for discounts on daily products? Who knows what an SMT might do for loyalty point systems.

I think that when it comes to introducing Steem to the people around our lives, the challenge is that while we might have a good understanding of why, what, how and what if, we don't necessarily do a good job of explaining them to an audience with no background information other than, "I have heard of Bitcoin".

I know that the most successful conversations I have had for introducing Steem is through first discovering what is important to the audience and then finding stories that they can imagine. But the real benefits come by guiding them into creating their own stories to anchor concepts to their own world. Through this, they opt-in to thinking about it in a way that is important to them.

Presenting Steem is not difficult as there are many advantages to early participation, but the longterm view is hard to get buy-in for because it seems so far away. There were many who said they wouldn't have or need a smartphone too - and the Internet, and a digital camera, and a computer..

The world is littered with people who have said "I will never" in regards to technology who later did. The reason is that while they couldn't find a use case at the time, as the tech evolved the developers created more and more inclusive uses that appealed to an increasing number to bring them into the fold.

This is going to be the same for blockchain and crypto - and Steem. While people judge Steem on what is available today and turn away, they are selling short how technology evolves over time to integrate into our lives in numerous ways. They say not to judge a book by its cover and when applied to technology, the cover is the early stages of development, where we are now in the lifecycle of Steem and blockchain. It is going to evolve.

This evolution is going to come through stories that reimagine the world and ask questions of why it has to be this way, *what *is the problem, how can it change and what if we did it.

The stories we create become the understanding we act upon.

Taraz
[a Steem original ]