How can we help steemit grow? Here is one possible simple way...
It is important to attract new people to steemit and steem. How do we keep them here when they arrive? That is the focus of this short post (for me).
Source: zenergyhealth.com
How do we keep people here?
I believe there has been a lot of talk about why people do not stay on steemit. A lot of it being tied to the trending page being the default page people land on and it not having a wide enough variety of interests to keep a lot of potential first time visitors. There is some merit to that, yet I would rather focus on things that WE THE PEOPLE that already are convinced of the wonders of steem and steemit can do to keep people here.
Ask not what steem can do for you, ask instead what you can do for steem.
Source: www.northernstaracting.co.uk
Introduce Yourself Posts
There are two tags introduction and introduceyourself which I believe we are all familiar with. This is often the first post someone makes to get their feet wet and take a dip into the waters of steemit. The reception of this post could for many be the thing that convinces them there is something to this thing called steemit, or makes them kneejerk react and leave thinking there is nothing to it.
Source: vimeo.com
While I love FEED and spend a lot of time in it, I do also try to visit NEW to up vote posts I may not normally see, I did realize lately that I am not doing the best thing I can to help with retention of new people on steemit. Looking at new certainly does help, but that is not the best use of making a good first impression with steemit.
Make a good first impression
Do you all recall when pretty much anyone who posted an introduceyourself post at a minimum would make a few steem dollars for a post? This is what it was like when I started here.
Even if it is a small amount the fact that me just talking about myself gave me some money did make me stop and think "Hey, that is pretty neat! These guys did not run screaming. Maybe there is something to this?"
Source: waik.dvrlists.com
If we want to help retain new people on steemit I believe we should all try to take some time to look at the introduceyourself and introduction tags on a daily basis and try to give these people some up votes. Give them that good first impression that makes their eyes widen and realize there is actually something to this steemit website afterall. Then after they are here for awhile they'll see STEEM and will realize it is actually much bigger than just the steemit website.
Source: giphy.com
Join me if you agree in making sure to welcome new people to the platform by looking at their first posts as they test the waters of the steem ocean.
This is a great idea. I've been thinking along these same lines. What I try to do every day, in order to keep my Steemit activities sustainable, is to establish and maintain relationships on Steemit. People will stick around when they feel connected. The only way to do that is to consistently read and comment on what's posted by the people you want to connect with. I have a list of people I "visit" every day, and that list is broken down into three tiers: a few whales (people way above me in SP and reputation), a few peers (people who are about as far along with Steemit as I am) and a few noobs (people just starting out). But following new people isn't enough, you've got to engage. (In fact, one of the first things I noticed as a noob was that most of the people following me never upvoted or commented on anything I wrote.)
Yeah today I was looking through tags and I stared at introduceyourself for a minute and realized that because I do have a lot of people I follow I spend far less time in NEW than I once did. I realized that the new people doing their first post were likely not getting shown as cool a welcome as we once had. That simple step is something WE can do for the platform without expecting Dan and Ned to change the code. It is something I could change about myself now.
While I can't go vote on ALL introduceyourself posts I'd like to due to it greatly depleting my voting power, I can at least make a difference. If all of us do that then it could make steemit a lot more welcoming to new people.
They may find it hard to STRIKE GOLD again, but at least they know it is possible, so we might keep more of them around than we are right now.
Just signed and came to see what's all about. Will whip up an intro later.
Just like the curation initiative by @donkeypong and company, I feel that many should focus a selected timeframe throughout the day split amongst some influential users and monitor the best incoming introduceyourself posts. This is a critical post to see what people have to offer. I'd go so far as to say that the introduce yourself post should pay out double (if that's possible) whether that be five dollars or five thousand, having the first post you make worth more would lead to more creative first posts.
Not all deserve a lot of money, but everyone should have their first post looked at.
I know @piedpiper is working on a way to help new users with any questions they have.
Subsequent posts should continue to establish the value a user brings to steemit. More competition will keep steemit from becoming stagnant.
$.09 was enough to get me excited (from @stellabelle on a comment) before I even knew where I was going with an introduction.
Retaining users will pay dividends later. That's not to say all new users should receive a lot of rewards early.
My early content sucked to be quite frank. I'm still learning about myself and what I want to put out in the area of content for others.
But even though looking at and promoting new users may not affect your wallet right now, if steemit is to get as big as a facebook or Twitter, not only will you be able to directly spend steem, but also the value will be far greater.
As a community we have the chance to do something I never thought possible. Work together, get rewarded, make friends, and find interesting content.
There is a ways to go, but a lot is riding on early adopters shoulders. If you are solely focused on what "you" can make, you are missing out on the big picture.
Hopefully more people see this as you do @dwinblood
yes great post @dwinblood !! I remember doing my introduction post, i felt warm and welcome for sure. I t was my second best paid post at 36 dollars. I try myself to always welcome in the same fashion the new comers here ! It does seem to me that this does now seem to be lacking and i think the new people who do stay do not care about voting up these introduction posts as they don't see it as being lucrative enough !! Now with the 5 vote a day rule i think this worrying tendency may well further intensify . We must turn this around eh ??
Will start working on a re-introduction lol
Yes, mine was pretty lame. Didn't know what I was doing then.
Not a bad idea... The casino theory... once people get a taste of winning (even if it's a small win) they will keep playing in hopes of winning the Big One!
But if they are continuously losing they will eventually go broke !
Possibly... But that next post could be The Big One!.... :)
Excellent point. I've been busy and not as active in curating and growing the community, but I will be getting back to that NEW tab shortly!
It is actually the introduceyourself tags we should be giving extra attention to I think. This way we will hook them when they are new.
hi,
I wrote a cute little story about a baby dolphin and all the posts he read of the other dolphins and your post is in it !!
have a look, I hope you like it :)