Steemit.com VS Busy.org - Which STEEM Interface is better?
It wasn't until recently I discovered there were additional interfaces to the Steem blockchain, but as I began my journey with Steemit I was reluctant to share my personal details with these other sites.
I've since discovered your logins are safe when you are using SteemConnect to authenticate your account so don't worry. Your keys are safe as long as they have a secure site (look for a https).
Now I was going to do a d.Tube video explaining the differences between
Long format videos are really only good for YouTube as it ranks longer videos more favourably.
So let's have a look at the two interfaces side by side.
Main Screen
Steemit.com is going for a clear minimalist look, where as Busy.org is well, busy.
You'll also notice a few features on this page like 'Interesting People' and quick profile links. Plus, there is a 'Write quick post' dialog box which might prompt you to write something quickly, which isn't really what we are looking for are we?
Profile Page
Here we see Steemit.com is dominated by that black bar at the top, whereas Busy.org is much more gentler on the eye. It would be nice if we could change the colour of that bar at the top. But overall Steemit.com has gone with a really clean look.
Busy.org on the other hand is busy again and now has 'Top Reblogged Users' in the right hand column. Busy.org is very much about discovery and dare I say it, time wasting. They certainly want you to go down that rabbit hole.
Profile Wallet
Here we can see Steemit.com is more interested in educating the user on the different tokens, whereas Busy.org implies some knowledge of the terms, 'Steem', 'Steem Power', 'Steem Dollar', etc.
However, a nice feature for the Busy.org wallet is the real time market prices. As that is a little confusing when you first go into the market screen in Steemit.
Blog Post Style
I really like the format for Steemit.com but the comments section could do with a UI overhaul.
Did you know I had to search for how to comment on Steemit because I just couldn't see the 'Reply' button. Changing it's colour may help Noobs find it easier.
Other than that, I've just discovered the social media links, just under the 'Promote' button which I have no idea what it does.
Now I have to say I'm not a big fan of the font choice Busy.org is running with. It's very hard to read block text and would probably give me eye strain after a while of reading.
Also the 'Recommend Posts' are a little distracting considering they also follow you down the page.
We also lose a little space at the bottom because the Comments box is already open and where are the social media share links?
Writing a Post
So here we have a major difference between the two interfaces, with Steemit.com going with a minimalist feel and Busy.org, you guessed it, is busy.
As a writer I prefer a clean working space free from distraction, and busy fails to deliver that.
On a plus side Busy.org does have a word count and time to read feature which is something I've asked for in the Steemit.com interface. (It's a must have for a modern platform)
Well done Busy.org.
Bonus Feature
The main reason for investigating Busy.org was I'd heard you could set your voting percentage from day one. Which for a slow growing minnow is a great idea.
Currently, you need a 500 SP voting power strength to active the vote power slider in Steemit.
And although your vote wouldn't have much financial value when you first start out, it's the thought that counts and losing too much voting power means it'll never count.
(A minnow should try to vote with 100% power to contribute their '2 cents' and voting power recharges at 20% per day)
So well done Busy.org for letting your users decide how they vote, even as a minnow.
And the Winner is...
STEEM is the winner here today, as having multiple interfaces connecting to the same blockchain has to be good right?
Everyone is unique, so boxing them up like every other social media platform does is surely a bad thing. And using the blockchain for this Blogging or Social Media Platform is our point of difference.
We only have good things to look forward to as more and more people find interesting ways to serve their audience with unique interfaces, but we'll always remain as one big happy family on the same blockchain.
STEEM on my friends...
STEEM on!
The 2 places where Busy won is the interface and the posting page. Others are won by steemit. The posting page on steemit is not well detailed, and newbies can find it difficult especially with the markdown, meanwhile on busy you can easily see the tab to click each markdown features.
Agreed Busy.org is a much better option for noobs.
The markdown assistance is nice especially for posting from a mobile phone - but busy still has no mobile app. BTW does busy have a 'save as draft' feature yet?
Thanks for the honest comparison. I think I'll stay with Steemit for now...
Ditto
I know people who use BUSY, especially a few months ago it became more prominently the go-to interface when steemit was having posting, commenting and UPvoting issues.
Some of the people who began using it then, seem to have stayed with it. I personally have never ventured over to try it, and have no intentions of doing so. And thank you for this personal review.
Yeah, it's too 'busy' for me. I'm not leaving popular social media platform to have the same experience here. Community discovery is nice but I'm here to write.
If you go into your steemit settings page you can now have a banner picture-just drop the image you want into the - - - COVER IMAGE URL - - - and you have a banner image. Banner image size is about 1500X200.
Hahaha dude.... the winner is "US".
I had no idea busy.org even existed! I haven't yet investigated the dmanias and steepshots yet, but honestly didn't know about busy. On the profile page of busy... you've got 'Top Reblogged Users' which is nice. .. but did you notice if you'd be able to change that at all? I've been wanting a list of favourites that I can edit. ..
Yeah!! Super great @BethWheatCraft and I making a cameo appearance. Thanks dude! The voting slider from day one is such a deal. I got down to 8% on my first day and still haven't caught back up. I'm basically waiting until I take a week off to see the Grand Canyon early Feb.
Yeah, there's a whole wide world of opportunities out there. But I still prefer Steemit.
I guess what I learned from the experience is different interfaces encourage different types of posting. So believe it or not haejin's short posts make a lot more sense if he is using Busy.org. And Steepshot provides an even briefer post. (Imagine the rage in the community)
In future, we will all need to be tolerant of the different styles of posts we come across because we might be targetting people for the wrong reasons.
Solution: Each interface reserves 1 tag for its own brand, leaving the end user with 4. Then those interfaces (including Steemit) can filter out post specific to their own platform.
Wow my post is like famous now! Haha. I was just on Busy the other day and it reminded me of Facebook's look. I definitely think that's what the devs were looking for because of all this talk about Steemit becoming the new FB.
That's one good reason why I don't really want to use Busy. I like the longer posts. I like the more considerate responses. It would be a damn shame if this became a site chock full of repurposed minion memes and mind-numbing quizzes about what spirit animal you were in a past life. I think I would probably just give up at that point, haha.
I do think Steemit could use some work though, as there are a few things, as you mentioned, that are frustrating to use on the site. It might also be helpful to have a few links to well-written intro blogs on Steemit that newbies can find useful. There could maybe even be a permanent hashtag for new users to make the learning process more efficient. Maybe some of the posts in that tag could even be pinned somehow to the top. I mean it's not like I didn't like feeling like I was completely alone in the cold trying to figure out what the hell everything on Steemit was, (And just realizing yesterday that you buy Steem with SBD and then Power Up, ugh, I felt like an idiot) but surely we could assist fellow Minnows in the learning process, and maybe get more of the good ones to stick around if they don't feel so overwhelmed in the beginning! Awesome article man!
Ha!, Don't get carried away, I don't command a huge reach, but hopefully, over time you'll pique the curiosity of some readers :-D
And I'm still new here so I'm sure I'll get under the skin of the old-timers who don't value the opinions of some young upstart.
It'll be interesting to see how Steemit develops over the coming year, and which interface becomes the norm, but one thing is for sure, when this place get's even a sniff of FB features, I'm OUT!
PS: So what's your spirit animal? LoL
Well right now my spirit animal appears to be a minnow...
Ha, I know what you mean.
I'm busy trying to fight my way out of this sardine tin.
We will make an escape together! Or at least grow into something a little more respectable, bahaha!
Surely nothing can hold all us minnows... did we learn nothing from Finding Nemo?
Hmm didn't know about Busy.org before this post. I'm here at Steemit so I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this platform and all apps/sites connected to the Steem blockchain.
I will have to check it out because it's always good to have alternatives even though I looks similar to Steemit I must say :)
Which one do you use or prefer?
I lean towards Steemit.com more because it's cleaner.
I found this article very helpful. I tried Busy awhile ago and it was ... Busy. I still go there occasionally. I prefer clean and simple. Yes, there are things I'd like to change but to get everything I want, I would have to make my own interface - hah, not very likely. Thx.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a valued opinion. Yes, it's very busy :-D
I prefer the steemit interface overall. I can't figure out how to log back into busy.org so it's gone by the wayside for me! Lol
Just stick with the one you know :-) They all work :-D
Thanks for the comparison. I first came across the busy tag and when i asked about it was told that you got a small payment for using it so I did that on a few posts.
Then I read that you needed to post on busy.org and use the busy tag on Steemit to get the payment so I stopped using it.
I thought people were posting on busy.org and then posting the same thing on Steemit with the busy tag but from what you're saying it sounds like they are 2 completely different platforms. In which case it sounds like it would be double the work to use it. Do I have that right?