The channel in and in-game Steem

As the applications begin to start handling more of the onboarding activities, it is going to be interesting to see if the average behavior changes. In the past when Steemit Inc did all over the processing, the way people found out about Steem seemed to influence their experience and techniques here heavily with the get rich quick often taking a similar path from their "mentors". However, what was a defining factor was who the people met and spent their time with initially.

Often, a new account models itself off of the accounts they first interact with and if those accounts are plagiarizers, spammers or low quality posters in general, that often becomes the benchmark. Because they tend to be somewhat siloed, it can be hard to break out and see that the approach is not the best.

On average it seems, those who were lucky enough to find a healthy community generally did better and enjoyed their time more than those who were looking to maximize only through circlejerk activities. They also tend to be more engaged and earn higher than those who spend their time trying to maximize and not interact well.

This is why it is going to be interesting to see over time what happens with the accounts that enter in through @actifit, @steemmonsters, @steemonboarding or some of the applications that will start signing up users as they will be coming into communities who encourage certain behaviors that tend to be healthier ways to use the Steem blockchain. Will they have a better experience, earn more, interact more, create more or have higher than average retention rates?

I am hoping there is a way to segment these accounts out (@paulag?) and track them over time based on the channel they entered in through, as I think it would be a great way to get an understanding of what kinds of processes lead to healthy users. This learning could be key in how communities and applications design themselves in the future and of course, the way applications engineer themselves if SMTs ever arrive.

What I think will happen though is that if an account is able to be pulled in to an application front-end through word-of-mouth or advertising, they will model themselves off what they find there. This cuts out the Trending page nonsense as well as sections them off from a lot of the crap.

For example, an onboard through @steemhunt is going to find content that is based on a form approach meaning that they will follow form. If they then start to explore further into Steem, they will already have a base to work from and possibly be more likely to get directed to various communities in discord or on chain. This potentially changes their experience drastically from someone who just signs up through Steemit.com and lands in the middle of 90% trash to wade through.

A lot of the issues with Steem retention aren't because of price, it is because of experience. Those who are here for price will only be here when they get whatever they think is enough but those who have a good experience will be happy earning Steem, no matter the price as it gives them a way to interact more, to play more, to experience more.

Something a lot of people forget is that if one treats STEEM as a currency in a game, it can be used to do all kinds of things to either grow itself or, play the game in different ways, with different tools. When playing an RPG, no one cares that the gold coins they collect actually have no value if they can use them to buy better weapons or potions or some other in-game purchase that makes the same more enjoyable.

While I am pretty confident on future price being very beneficial to those with Steem, I enjoy the experience of earning the coin and using it to do all kinds of other things, including rewarding others I think are playing the game well too. Having Steem enhances the experience of playing and opens up more options both in the present and in the future as it can not only be used to earn, it can be used as a development tool. Having in-game Steem is a lot of fun.

What I think will happen in the future is that while the applications will onboard and offer compelling niche experiences, many users will start to spiral out from there and see what other parts of the game they might enjoy playing. The more they explore, the more they will find and while they might keep heir home base application, they will begin dabbling in the larger ecosystem.

This will not only lead to improved experience, it will lead to a higher rate of positive word-of-mouth advertising also. Never underestimate the power of tell-a-friend marketing.

One thing is for certain from my perspective, the more responsibility the apps and the communities take to channel in and onboard through their own interfaces, the more likely the user will enjoy themselves earlier and, find people like them to interact with. That alone will make a difference to the ecosystem.

Now, go get some in-game Steem.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]