Can Steemit be saved?
Self upvoting has been and is a recurring topic. In my view a diversion from the underlying problem with Steemit.
I wrote a comment on a post by @kevinwong the other day. His topic was "how to make Steemit great again". I was like I usually am truthful and straight to the point:
I think it's not a question of making Steemit great again, it's a question of making the platform survive.
My neighbors delegate away their stake, which benefits them without doing nothing. In the last couple of months it has shrunk what is left for me significantly. And then there is those who gave up and moved on, selling their stake.
And to be realistic, withdrawing and trading the tokens would be more profitable for me than staying and figuring out a way to float another three months. Only to realize the people I invested my time in sold out.
Steemit was meant to be a social platform. It will end as a failed social experiment without careful thought and incentives for every user, old and new.
I blame hf 19 and I blame greedy entrepreneurs, often disguised as witnesses. It is the end to Steemit as we once knew it without doing something drastic. Because a social platform that honors antisocial behavior will fail in the end.
You can read his piece here:
https://steemit.com/steem/@kevinwong/time-to-wake-up-and-fix-steem-s-voting-problem
My pretext
Going back to what the platform was made for is my pretext. It wasn't made to be a advanced savings account. It was made to be social. And on top of that award being social.
Which means
- You have to invest in your peers
- You should not have to but certainly can get a head start by putting money up front.
What Steemit became
Is a advanced savings account that awards selfishness and greed. Fueled by bidbots for the quick buck and delegating it away to the highest bidder.
Which makes it useless as a social meeting place.
I feel it at the moment. Friends and neighbors that I have grown with, learned from and got to know one way or the other power down, delegate away, if they haven't already left.
Is it too late?
I fear so. Because without new blood to inject new ideas in the social aspect, the intention is not met.
I have been and still consider withdrawing and trade the shit out of my stake in steem. Something that would gain me more while spending less energy. A consequence of seeing powerless peers blabbering yada yada over and over again. It's all over the place.
"Proof of brain" has become proof of mediocrity. Facebook and other social media has nothing to fear. Because Steemit has nothing to offer that they can't match. And the half sbd you get from putting in an hour or two is offset by a snazzy, functional interface.
Pessimistic?
No.
I have seen enough of the mediocrity to have an opinion. I have also met likeminded people. Which is encouraging. But how long is it before they see what I see and throw in the towel?
Steemit fails miserably at being a social network. It even fails at being an economic incentive. Unless you suck dick, that is.
Which should not be necessary. It never was until the fatal hardfork 19 that opened the floodgates of mediocrity.
Not a problem the way I see it.
This his how things evolve.
This was of course counter productive for whales and other investors. Why upvote and give help bloggers earn steem when they just dump that steem?
So bots were created so people could benefit themselves as real steem investors. That the space evolved even more. Now people delegate. And that is brilliant in the long run. Look at projects being created on the steem blockchain! Hunt is one. And there will be many others. Where investors can delegate steem to projects and dapps so they can fund themselves that way. Airdrops of tokens will be given to the delegators/steem power holders.
I think this is the future of delegated proof of stake, and it is really the kind of innovation we need to see on STEEM.
Sure, SteemIT is somewhat of a failed platform. But that doesnt matter. Blogging to make shitloads is over for this time. Time to move on and look at new opportunities.
That's the correct way to see STEEM. We are here for the Long Run!!!!
I think your right - I think I was 6 months to late to the party to enjoy making big bucks from blogging on here - now I am fighting for the scraps :(
LEts see if Steem evolves some more - there are some great projects out there and Im sure many more are in the works
we are still early in the game
in crypto. on steemit. i'm quite optimistic about it.
Yes it's very silly that people think that there is no money left in blogging. Please we have a world population going up to 10 billions. Humans need new ideas and information. There will always be money in doing content.
You kind of shot yourself in the leg here.
I have to admit even my posts are a lot weaker than when I first started almost a year ago. Due in part I can not juggle well with blogging and life, but also seeing how many on the platform is earning rewards makes it difficult to motivate myself to continue.
Yet we all have to be optimistic and since I started on steemit with regards to blogging I will likely continue unless something better comes along. Thanks.
You have to invest in others for this system to work!
Agree that is part of it but providing good content for users to upvote is also crucial. I can not believe how poorly written my original comment was. lol. Thanks.
As long as people send value around it's worth a lot the currency. For example Bitcoin is mainly holders. Not users... That will say Steem Dollars and Steem already is more valuable in a way of looking at it. I don't think it's that much about the content. It's about: Is value being streamed in the network to the users?
Totally agreed. Also there is the 1 USD price floor for SBD.
Having just finished a very detailed reading of the blue paper, I don't think Steem Inc would agree with you: steemit as it is now has very little to do with the success of steem!
In their eyes, rewards distribution to bloggers simply isn't an issue. I think the whole idea is that as (/if) it moves forwards people start to earn through delegating to SMT projects, and I imagine that steemit will just be a blogging platform which drives people to those projects, much in the same way that most bloggers and youtubers don't blog and vlog to make money from their blogs and vlogs, but rather their social media outputs drive people to their SMT linked products (book sales/ workout videos whatever).
I didn't really understand why self-voting is treated with such a blasse attitude by Steem Inc, having read the blue paper, now I 'get it'... it probably would be nice to sort out the rewards for shit posting etc, but I think this might just sort itself out in the medium term.
I just recently invested another £1000, my only regret is that I hadn't held out for a few more days given the recent drop!
I might be wrong of course, and I'm a long way from remortgaging my house to 100* my investment!
Have you seen a SMT token lately? I haven't. I heard of them, but still it's a blurr to me. I just watch the meaning of spending time on the platform diminish. In itself a sign I should move on. Keeping my eyes open.
Yes, fair point actually! I do have a certain amount of 'faith' in the future of steemit and SMTs, mainly on the basis that steem is a functional token that I can actually use, unlike any of the others (unless you count my stupid, stupid, dunce stupid foray into crytpo-kitties with ether).
I do also make a point of buying some EOS every time I buy more STEEM, and this is probably one of the few things I have in common with every other being in the known universe.
I just realised I made a very similar point to @baronvonbitcoin above.
As to this as a platform, for what I use it for (which is mainly reflexively posting about the platform itself and Extreme early retirement and homesteader wannabe), it's perfect - I just blinker myself to the shit going on and engage.
However, for professional purposes it's not fit for purpose - I use WP for that, steemit has no functional advantages to Word Press, so I do nearly all of my sociology over there. On a functional level I would probably give it 1/10. On the basis that it functions. That's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about steemit's functionality!
I feel the same way some days, and then I just keep Steeming on - I hope I can continue even though I know that the platform is ripe with abuse and manipulation - the newest one is the ammount of new followers I get whenever I post - just inflating the numbers on here!
In saying that there is a lot of good going on here and loads of cool and interesting people to interact with. Money does seem to change some people, and you can spot those in it for the money and those who are just here for a bit of fun and earn a few dollars along the way.
What amazed me is that it is some of the witnesses who abuse the system, and create the bots which are evil to this platform and could well be its downfall - and the witnesses should be the ones with the most interest in the long temr health of Steem as they are often heavily invested. If it is a social media platform like is suggested it cant survive with so many bots just upvoting any old post - otherwised whats they point of 'proof of brain' and what was meant to be the main asset of the platform in the first place - humans and their content
what's wrong with people being in it for the money? These are the people driving the space forward.
And at the same time..why is it a problem for you if people are in it for the money? You say you're not. So why do you care if some people earn a lot of money? You aren't in it for the money anyway? You are in it for..lets see cool people to interact with and a little bit of fun.
No one is stopping you from interact and having a little bit of fun.
And here is a few cents along the way as well, even if I disagree with you and find your arguments self contradictory
Nothing wrong with people being in it for the money if they are also making steem a better place and adding value - im just against those who manipulate the system and make ridiculous ammounts of money through bots etc.
You have some fair points! No one is stopping me from just being on here for a bit of fun and making a few dollars. Thanks for the debate it does make me think ☺
I totally agree. There are witnesses that game the system and I will put the spotlight on them.
All your points are spot on! The guy who got me on this platform left months ago and the guy that got me using it is powering down. I still have hope though! I am interacting with great people every day.
You are the one that will get rich not your friends hahaha
It didn't take me long after joining (I've been here since March) to see that this platform is deeply flawed. Bots and whales kill it. You're quite right about it rewarding antisocial behaviour!
Can it be saved? I don't know. It certainly has potential! I guess it will come down to a case of: can the pros outweigh the cons. Or perhaps it will be determined by what other social media platforms turn into.
I wouldn't write Steem and Steemit off yet, not by a long shot (the user base is growing), but Steemit would be silly to assume that a bright future is a certainty.
Good! I also think it has potential. But my patience is running low ;-)
Tell me about it! You're preaching to the choir.
and it wasn't made to be 'the' blogging site as advertised....that was just the bait...
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A good number of the top witnesses need to be replaced.
HF19 was a disaster.