Interesting Q & A about Steemit.

I ran across an interesting post that got me really engaged today, and thought that instead of just resteeming it that I would paste my comments from it on my own blog. There is a dTube page going over many questions and they posted it for the greater Steem community's benefit. You can find the post here:, check it out: https://steemit.com/education/@sndbox/f5gh7fg9

I copy and pasted my thoughts on it below. It made me think of Rapoport.

Good stuff @sndbox !

"@dduquette : Do you think Steemit supports cultural institutions and a space for cultural/social work?
One key engineering concept here that is often missed is the concept of design intent. Do not look at Steem, SBD, and every piece involved separately, that is silly. Look at it as a system as a whole, with the pieces being elements, which make up a larger whole. Also, don't be distracted by flaws and people gaming the design intent, it will be iterated continually to adapt just like any other technology. Look at how a token network (real cryptocurrency) makes money compared to how things work now.
To answer this question you need to go beyond simply looking at Steemit like a tradeable crypto, blockchain, DApp like platform, etc. I am sorry @yabapmatt, but I strongly disagree with you here. Also keep in mind that many companies and crypto projects do not follow the most basic ideas which Bitcoin brought to us. What you often see talked about is the specific technology, but not some critical high level ideas that should be taken away from Bitcoin. A true cryptocurrency requires some serious design planning from the point of view of nurturing something unique to crypto, which is called token network effects. Take a look at Steemit from a high level perspective, identifying the parties involved, their interests, and the benefit distribution. Now look at the design of Facebook or Twitter and look at the parties involved. Compare the following: who are the users, who are the investors, who are the developers, how is the product or service monetized? When looking at the distribution of benefits from being an active part of the network for the user compared to Facebook there is a massive difference. Steemit users directly benefit from growth, high quality content, etc.

The second part to answer your question has to to with identifying different segments of users. Lets break them down by cultures around the world. Compare the monetization of those cultural segments users between Steemit which is a token network and Facebook which is a data network. Now ask yourself, if I have 1 Million users from the US on a social network like Facebook are they worth more than 1 Million users from say Nigera, Somalia, Afganistan? When you compare the monetization of the groups of users you would probably realize that a company won't market to 1 Million people from poor countries which cannot possibly buy their products. A user from a country which cannot be monetized is left out or causes a cultural barrier when it comes to any technology not just social. Steemit as a whole is a token network by design. It makes money in a way which breaks down this cultural barrier making it more fair for people from all cultures to be a part of it and mutual benefit from it. My last post actually goes into this in depth.

@dduquette : What type of content does well on Steemit? How does Steemit improve on ‘stickiness’ and user retention?
I believe that this will change overtime as more users join, more diverse whales and dolphins are part of the network. There are many articles on what does well on Steemit so there is not point into going into detail. That's a matter of looking at the time your posting and the content of what your talking about. Friday at 6 pm EST will have one group of users who may like short concise posts in certain areas. Whereas another group of users from Aceh will be when they get off work.

In terms of stickiness and retention the answer for both I believe is the same in this early stage for Steemit. When your talking about tipping point or the sociodynamic idea of critcal mass I like to look at what large scale friction exists currently, then throw it into a Eisenhower type matrix to filter. Then do a SWOT on whats left. For me the one thing which is preventing critical mass is on boarding. When Steemit gets people from a new subcultures they can be disincentivised and handicapped from not moving up through the echelons of the Steemit pecking order, compared to other subcultures. While other subcultures will have many friends easily accepted into the network. If a center of influence joins Steemit, then accepting those new followers can take too long acting as a speed bump in the network effects cycle. It can bring in other problems, for example what if people with large swaths of followers get upset about how hard it is to get their users accepted and a stigma develops around using Steemit. They need to find a better, more scaleable way to get users on board, without preventing bots from overrunning the network.

@engledd : What are good strategies of engaging others into a project conversation?
I don't understand this question. Is this specific to Steemit? I would say that the same things you do across other social platforms will continue to work. The one pattern which I have noticed is the use of contests and rewards does seem to transcend your following and group similar people. For example a newer person who has few followers, not much Steem Power, and a low reputation score can easily have large numbers commenting when it has an incentive. You would think that the comments would be proportional to those things, but if your not a whale there isn't as strong of a correlation as you would think between a minnow and dolphin if you hit the right button with a contest promoting engagement.

@tmaust : What is the ultimate goal of Steemit?
The ultimate goal for projects like Steemit is to maintain an equilibrium of rewards for all parties involved with Steemit, in terms of how the increase in value is distributed among those parties. That being said I don't think there can be an ultimate goal in general for something social like this. Look at a social network in terms of entropy. You cannot stop dissatisfaction from forming. The main thing is that maintaining the equilibrium in the long run is possible in a token network in my opinion, compared to a data based network something must give in whether its the investors wanting profit, users unfairly being monetized, etc. Token networks just need to adjust the elements they designed the system with or introduce new elements to maintain that balance.

@gvgktang : What are the demographics of Steemit?
Dude, mind blown on this one! I have never talked to such a large array of people in my life. I could be talking to senior in high school in the US who wants to be an actuary, to a guy in Nigera who is middle aged professional type, to a guy from the Philippines who scrapes by on a daily basis. Many people barely speak English, but I still communicate with them and they with me.
One interesting thing I have been thinking about from my answer to a previous question is how does the friction of it not being easy to get accepted on the network make Steemit more diverse? If that friction was not there, bots were prevented from joining, would it have resulted in more developed countries over taking the network at a faster rate resulting in dissatisfaction in other groups resulting in a Stigma?

@jfeagan : Is the Steemit platform something that could be made with another blockchain?
Steemit is more than simply a blockchain. Blockchain is just a tool used to implement a larger design intent. I used to play chess and a nice explanation I once received of the relationship between strategy and tactics was that tactics are the means by which you carry out a strategy. A blockchain alone would not be able to recreate Steemit. Blockchain is a specific means of storing data or a database. I have a hammer, but I cannot build a house with it, its only one piece of something much larger.

@tmaust : Will Steemit remain a Wild West-type of atmosphere?
What causes a Wild West-type of atmosphere? Historically how have things transitioned a Wild West-type of atmosphere to a "normal atmosphere?"