How the community can play a part in increasing user retention
Recently I wront and article which examined the link between satisfaction and retention on Steemit, and it has got me thinking about what the more ‘experienced’ members of the community can do to help Steem grow and increase user retention. User retention on Steemit has been notoriously low for some time no, with around 6% of accounts transaction on a daily basis. It seems that the reasons people leave are quite universal, such as lack of rewards, moral issues and lack of understanding (of Steem, and also understanding of crypto as a whole). Let's explore some of these and what the community can be doing to help Steem grow.
Lack of understanding
Understanding Steemit
Steem is a bit confusing for newbies who just want to start blogging - from the different currencies, to resteeming, voting power and bandwidth issues, it's a lot to take in! Along with the ‘fundamentals’, there are also many areas up for debate such as the use of bid bots and flagging.
The first thing I would recommend new users do is to read the Steem FAQ, which acts as a road map and has the information needed to get started.
I find that if I learn something new about Steem, then it's a good idea to write a post about it and share this with my followers - and the results have been positive with loads of discussion and learning going on. However, not everyone is interested in blogging about Steem and helping other users out in this way (which is fair enough!). Another great way to help educate new users is by being active in the chat rooms (steem.chat) and the various Discord servers helping out new Steemians and offering advice. On top of this is a great way to build new relationships and meet new people.
There are people such as @sykochica and @suesa who are wonderful in helping new Steemians find their feet (and were super helpful to me, so thanks!), but I feel others can also offer a helping hand, and this is what I am doing more of. Steemit isn’t like other platforms in the fact that it doesn’t have any ‘official’ help as such and relies on the community to help out new users.
I have never been much of a user of more traditional social media, but I notice new users come to Steemit and often mass follow and leave ‘generic’ comments such as ‘nice post’. I have thought long and hard about this and have tried to help people and direct them in the right direction (telling them - rather than leaving a comment such as ‘nice post’, just upvote the post, and if you want to comment then make sure it is related to the post) I have had mixed results with this - some people take it on board and are grateful but others have been quite hostile. I would be interested to hear others thoughts on this!?
Understanding crypto
Right now is a classic example of this - the price has taken a massive dip over the few weeks - I have seen at least 30% wiped from my accounts value (in terms of $FIAT) - and I would lie if I said this isn’t a bit hard to watch. But if you believe in the future of crypto and Steem (like me), then I believe in the long term Steem will show some massive growth - its only 2 years old and in Beta, and has huge potential!
Having at least a basic understanding of crypto and the volatility of the market will help people in sticking here through the rough times.
Lack of rewards/slow to get started
Unfortunately there isn't much we can do about where and how people heard about Steem and what information they were fed and what expectations they came in with. However, we can be realistic and honest with people and let them know that it is a grind at the beginning and might take a few months to gain a following and have posts that consistently make a few dollars.
Moral issues
My advice to people who are new here and have moral issues would be to stick to what feels right for them - if they are here to make loads of money and want their posts on trending then they will probably have to use bots, if they are against bots then simply don't use them - there are consequences of the decisions you make on here.
In general I try to stick out of the moral dramas and arguments on here and just do what works for me - at the end of the day I don't really have to justify what I am doing to anyone! Also do your research on which witnesses you vote for - some witnesses run their own bots, and are more about profit, whereas others have a much more community focus (and are the witnesses I tend to vote for). Think hard about who your witness votes go to, as they are the ones that make decisions on our behalf.
Conclusion
User retention is a massive issue here on Steem, and could affect the long term success of the platform. However, I believe that more experienced and knowledgeable Steemians can play a part in educating and helping out new users which will make them more likely to stay for the long term.
Remember - Steem is a long term investment, and short term fluctuations shouldn’t affect your overall approach and strategy!
As always I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this!
I find this very helpful. I would say that Steemit is not just a bit confusing, it is extremely confusing and that confusion is largely by design through the complexity and lack of transparency of the algorithms. The FAQ is really not all that useful for truly understanding Steemit. Yes, it helps, but it could be much better. Second, the marketing material on Steemit.com and by some large Steemit users is misleading and encourages unrealistic expections. The main splash page says: "Your voice is worth something
Get paid for good content. Post and upvote articles on Steemit to get your share of the daily rewards pool." That makes Steemit sound very simple, but in fact the complexity of the algorithms, the fact that a new user gets almost nothing from upvotes, and the fact that most of those really high payout articles that a new user first sees on Trending are both (1) low to average quality; and (2) have rewards that were actually bought, meaning that the actual reward is perhaps even negative, ends up quickly souring a new user's impression of Steemit. Yes, there are many community groups and powerful users trying to combat this. But as @kevinwong has written, if we really want Steemit to reward quality content and quality curation, we need to change the economic rules built into Steem.
Once you spend some time on here and read the FAQ (and white/blue paper if you are extra keen!) its not so bad. And spending some time on DIscord helps - asking questions someone is usually able to help aswer for you.
I agree about the 'marketing' but Steem kind of sells itself - and thats the problem in a way that some people sell it as 'get rich quick' or 'easy money' which are both bogus and not helping anyone.
Yeah the bots have ruined the perception of trending because as you said new users will think thats what people are earning when infact the majority was paid for and some even get negative ROI
I'm learning my way around slowly and have largely given up trying to determine all the details. It is clear that building up SP is the key to success and that engagement through quality content, but also with individuals and communities trying to help others is the way to more SP. I read the FAQ and the linked article and the white paper when I first came on. The white paper seems to contain some odd claims, such as that upvotes are not micropayments, when I believe that for all intents and purposes they are. At this point I have largely turned to just doing what I feel is right: engaging with quality folks and upvoting quality.
Yep - power up as much SP as possible - wish I had of learnt this earlier. And yea engagement is key here - creating quality content is only half of the puzzle - you have to have people that want to read it!
Seems like a solid strategy to me!Any advice on whether it is better to use minnowbooster to ramp up Steem and SP from SBD, or just trade SBD for Steem on the internal market? When I started I immediately sold SBD on the market then powered up, but recently I've been using Minnowbooster. However, minnowbooster looks like an immediate win, but after a few days the vote value drops, so it may end up being a negative ROI.
Im not a huge fan of using bots in general so my answer might be a bit bias. I just tarde on the internal market but there can be an argument for using minnowbooster to increase your posts visibility while also 'powering up'.
I also think @kevinwong has the best solution I have heard. Increase curation awards to incentivize upvoting good content.
Yeah thats sounds like a great idea to me!
I think at the moment people dont take enough care when curating aswell - higher curation rewards would mean people might taking curating a bit more seriously
I agree... I've been struggling for 5 to 6 months.. relatively new user here.. not really progressed a whole lot. and i noticed there are people spamming or replaying memes and easy get more than i've achieved in 6 months. quite disheartening....
It just takes time @sinlg - I have been here about 4 months now and am slowly grinding and building up my account - I know I am not going to make a fortune anytime soon!
DOnt worry about what others doing its not going to change - just focus on what you can do better :)
Nice discussions, I very like that everyone explains its point of view contending, argueing with great topic`s knowledge . Very helpful for me, learning step by step. Thaks everybody.
"Steem is a bit confusing for newbies who just want to start blogging - from the different currencies, to resteeming, voting power and bandwidth issues, it's a lot to take in! Along with the ‘fundamentals’, there are also many areas up for debate such as the use of bid bots and flagging."
"Another area in which I think scares users away is their lack of understanding of the crypto market - investing in crypto (and yes by earning Steem you are investing!) is a long term investment. I see many people coming in and expecting to make some money quickly and then leave. "
"There is a lot of hype and expectation when new users come to Steemit after watching Youtube videos from Steem whales who makes it sound much easier than it is in reality to make money on Steemit, or by reading news articles making it sound easy to make a load of money. "
User retention is a massive issue here on Steem, and could affect the long term success of the platform. However, I believe that more experienced and knowledgeable Steemians can play a part in educating and helping out new users which will make them more likely to stay for the long term.
Remember - Steem is a long term investment, and short term fluctuations shouldn’t affect your overall approach and strategy!
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I wholeheartedly agree with this post.
I may be on here for just three weeks so far, but I still decided to take steps in making the community a better one.
I will make it a once a week thing in the future.
Financial issues on this side are one thing that I can't do much about, but I can make everyone I interact with in any way leave the conversation with me with a good feeling. That should be helpful for everyone.
You are doing everything right after 3 weeks @paparodin - being social and engaging with others and asking questions. Keep it up!
Thats a pretty good challenge you got going there mate! People start to notice you after a while if you comment alot (and good comments as you said!) - I often see the same people in the comments section and check out their blogs.
Its all about the community on here...
Keep up the good work :)
I will. The next week will be troublesome but if I make it through that, everything should be going fine.
Well just make sure during the next week to atleast spend a few minutes a day on here - even if it is just upvoting a few posts
That I will, guaranteed. I also want to keep my upload chain going. Once a day is what I set for myself, so I won't allow myself to slack regarding that.
You are covering up pretty much every confusion of a new user with its possible reason and advice. It can be a bit challenging and a wild west for a new user. But, curiosity and perseverance are the keys.
Perhaps if I may add,find your community, make new friends, even attending a local meet up could be a way to engage and know more steemian!
I believe it takes a little bit of grinding and time at first,yet it's going to be worth it!
Great day !
Ps: Thank you for inventing the 7dayposivitivitychallenge!
Thanks @macchiata - sorry for the slow reply! I agree slow and steady steps to understanding Steem is key.
There is a community out there for everyone! Yep I have been grinding for 4 months and only just starting to see some positive results.
No problems - I have been AMAZED by how many people have taken up the challenge :)
Haha it's fine. We all have lives outside replying steemit comments and checking up on everyone!
Keep on grinding mate! you will see the result soon enough :))
Yeah its true - sometimes its hard to keep up - especially when your on holiday and forget whats going on. :)
You sum up the issues around retention very well. Expectations are really important I think. Steemit is usually described as a blogging site, so when people first arrive they often put a lot of effort into writing several good posts. With no network those posts will just go completely unnoticed, and no matter how great your posts were the curation organisations want to see a bit of engagement from you before they hand out any rewards.
New users need to join a community or two and make some friends. That way they can get a few upvotes and start to grow a bit.
Maybe there could be something like ‘talent scouts’ for communities? People from communities who go around looking for content from new users that would fit their community. I’m not sure what the best answer is, but I think if Steemit could improve the experience for new users it could get a better retention rate and reach critical mass
Expectations are the biggest issue around people coming and going in my opinion... Yah having good content is only half of the puzzle, and thats where people go wrong - they forget the social side of Steemit - I would even suggest new users spend a week or two just engaging and getting to know how Steem works and meeting people before they even post.
Yeah I have met loads of great people on Discord.
I think there must be something like this already happening - such as @curie, although they are less specific and community orientated just focussed on under rated content.
P.s. Sorry for the late replys we are off travelling now :)
No worries on the late replies, Steemit can feel like a full-time job sometimes!
Very helpful article.
I think the major problem of Steem is that people want to earn super fast profit with minimum effort on Steem.
I think that Steem should have a better, clearer introductions and FAQ section to let newbies know more about this platform.
I agree - people come in and expect to start making good money straight away and thats just not how Steem works (its also what happened in crypto in late 2017 - and loads people lost money when it finally came crashing down)
Yeah the FAQ is helpful but I dont think its enough