A review of the State of Steem forum on MSPwaves
This fantastic broadcast yesterday – which you can now listen to here – organised and hosted by @pennsif on mspwaves, was the first event I'm aware of to offer an intelligent analysis of the Steemit situation, totally different from the sweeping condemnations and infantile barbs I've seen elsewhere. I was impressed by the sheer number of intelligent ideas and solutions that were put forward.
Guest speakers included@aggroed, @anarcotech, @anomadsoul, @crypto.talk, @exyle, @fredrikaa, @hr1, @imacryptorick, @llfarms, @lukestokes, @nathanmars, @paulag, @project7, @shadowspub, @starkerz, @taskmaster4450, @themarkymark, @therealwolf and @yabapmatt.
Each speaker had a two-minute slot initially to put forward their thoughts on the current state of Steem and Steemit. Some of these thoughts conflicted, but they did so in ways that illustrated the complexity of the platform we are involved with.
I'll have to listen to bits of it again to get things straight, but a few things stood out for me:
• the Partiko developer mentioned a system of micropayments they are working on. I've often thought that biggest problem with cryptocurrencies is that they are generally used for speculation rather than as alternative payments systems. Micropayments might make Steem more viable as a currency.
• Discussing the promotion of Steemit through WordPress, @fredrikaa, developer of the Steempress plugin, pointed out that it's difficult to sell crypto, but easy to sell community.
As a blogger, that was like a lightbulb moment. I used to use Mailchimp in a (vain) attempt to get followers to my blogs. List-builders like Mailchimp are huge businesses, but in these days of data regulation, mailouts are increasingly regulated. Steemit offers bloggers readers, engagement and a way to network with others in your niche.
• @paulag spoke about bloggers and vloggers generating masses of poor quality posts on Steemit due to chasing upvotes. She compared Dtube to YouTube, and I think it was @pennsif who pointed out that you can go onto YouTube to find out how to mend things, for example – but not on Dtube.
Actually, there is an enormous amount of poor quality production on YouTube! But YouTube has been around longer, attracts more video producers and has developed a better search facility over the years. The "how-to" guides will come in time, if Steemit and Dtube survive and thrive (and I don't see why they shouldn't). I see this as more of a curation and search engine issue than simply being about quality.
• @paulag spoke about the importance of curation. It's impossible to read/consume even a tenth of the quality content on Steemit, and I agree that niche curation trails are the way forward. I love the steemstem.io website, and although it's probably the kind of thing I would only dip into occasionally, I know that it's there and ready to be referenced or browsed.
• @hr1 spoke about the Steeve interface, which I'm trying out for the first time. Search engines and curation trails are so important for Steemit. Steeve is described as "the Sieve for Steem".
I would have reservations about a search engine that bases recommendations around your personal browsing history, as this is what put me off Google years ago. My searches were being skewed. As an example, I'm a climbing fanatic. I might be frequently searching for climbing gear. Then I might need a new pair of shoes, but all the searches coming up would be climbing shoes. This became a problem for me using Google – however if the personal recommendations are offered instead of forced on you, skewing all your searches, this could work well.
These are just my initial thoughts on this important broadcast. If I'd never heard of Steemit before, and then I happened to listen to last night's broadcast, I'd be buying into Steem.
One idea I'd like to put forward is this: is it really necessary to have a seven-day time window for upvotes? I can see how this short time window increases engagement with the platform, but with Steemians churning out posts like there's no tomorrow, a longer upvote time frame might encourage posts of higher quality, but maybe with less frequency. Just a thought.
More info on this and future forums in @pennsif's latest post.
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Thank you this update @natubat. I wasn't able to tune in, you managed to describe something which can seem quite complex in an understandable fashion. Steemit has so many evolving apps it is difficult to keep up with everything.
Thanks @birdsinparadise! I really recommend listening to this - at least the first hour or two, when all the guests gave short soundbite thoughts and ideas on what they thought was the best way forward for Steem and Steemit. All the guests had such expertise in various aspects of Steem and Steemit that I really learned a lot from their input, and it also triggered my own thought processes.
When I first made the post the link to a replay of the show wasn't available, but I've since edited the post and added the link :)
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There are ways to still drop a couple of steem pennies or a vote on an old post that you enjoyed. TipU and I think there is another system also now. There is also nothing to stop a person from sending a wallet gift to the content creator, I have done this when reading multiple page book from authors after finishing I sent a thank you note to their wallet. So while there is only a 7 day easy vote window, it really is possible to vote/reward the content you like for a long long time.
That's a good point. And the comments can keep earning without any time limit. But I still think that increasing the time window would be a good idea.
Comments are on the same level as post, after 7 days any votes are just tossed down the drain. No one benefits.
Ah... I read somewhere that they could keep on earning. Must have been mistaken.
If you comment on a post it starts the clock on that thread with its own independent 7 day window. If the author answers you, you can upvote his comment ... and he can upvote yours and back and forth as long as it lasts -- and stays in the time-frame ... just like now. But I've found not many people catch those late comments -- or at least they don't pay one bit of attention to them. (Could be Steemit's lousy notification system, who knows.) Mostly, if I find something worth voting on that has expired I just go upvote something current. Job done.
But, yes, as a creator of evergreen content on my own blog, I have found the fact that it all gets lost and becomes worthless pretty depressing. So I've stopped putting out much that doesn't have an "expiration date" attached, like forecasts, etc. I get enough of my writing stolen off my own website without adding to the problem here -- where I can't touch it. IYAM, the 7 day window is so obviously stupid it could only exist on Steemit.
Once upon a time the payout window was 24 hours ... so I guess someone thought they were doing us all a favor by extending it to a week. But the truth is -- most content is basically dust 20 minutes after you publish ... until you have a network to push it to ... and a few voting trails to help keep your morale alive.
What a mine of information you are! Thanks for straightening this out. And for the other historical points of interest. A 24-hour window! Hardly an incentive to quality.
When I included this comment in my post, I thought someone was going to point out a good reason for having the 7-day upvote window, but so far no one has!
And you're right about not catching those late comments – I regularly check "replies" and I've noticed that at least one reply made to a reply that I made on someone's post was not included in my Replies. Maybe it's because the person did not reply directly to my comment, although the comment was meant for me. Luckily I found it anyway.
Sad to hear you get writing stolen from your website. I've built a website where I post almost all of the content I post on Steemit. I built the website in the hope that it would give those Steemit posts a longer life. I think in the long term, websites will be great for promoting Steemit, especially if they're as good as steemstem.io.
This always surprised me about the steem blockchain. There was some mentions on the steem white paper about the "long tail" of content. Where those niche areas could monetise. However, the seven day window takes away from that.
If someone creates content that is useful after seven days, they don't get any reward. This creates incentives for users to make "disposable" posts and might be one of the reasons for content creators not putting in that much effort. Why spend a week or a month, shooting a great video if the income will stop after seven days?
You're better of writing a book, you will get royalties for decades.
This may also answer this question:
On YouTube, there is no seven day reward window, so you can spend that time creating tutorials on fixing a fridge or putting up a picture, because in the long run, you will get viewers and potentially ad revenue, but on a seven day steem reward window, it's just not worth it.
@kabir88
You make some great points there.
I can't see any reason for the 7-day window now. I could maybe understand it in the early days, when the idea was to build up enthusiasm and engagement. On Bit.Tube the payment is recorded and then goes into your wallet after a week. These are very small amounts, but it means that if you create a piece of work, it can go on earning passive income, and that in itself is a good incentive to create. Same on YouTube, as you say, although you have to satisfy certain conditions first.
Thanks @natubat.
It seems odd to cripple a system that could be so compelling to quality content creators. Although YouTube has ongoing income, it only can be monetised by larger accounts. This is where the Steem Blockchain could excel.... if only we removed our self imposed disadvantage... but we are probably more likely to see @ned reappear and play guitar than for this sensible change to be made.
Haha - yeah. We can but hope!
I just hope that they would accept or make a revenue-creating advertisements in steemit so that it can help steemit inc in these times of thin @natubat
Also the seven day period payout is not clear to me why we cannot earn after the seven days.
Not so keen on ads, because advertisers usually make demands on content producers. If it's decentralised we shouldn't need ads. I think if Steem is used as a currency and people want to use it to exchange goods and services, that in itself should make it valuable.
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Excellent! Thanks
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!help.Thanks @checky! Amended.
Thanks for this, I was bummed I missed it!
Where is it recorded? I’d love to listen
Bump :)
@pennsif has now released it on YouTube at this link. It's also on Dtube, and there are going to be more forums. All the details are in @pennsif's latest post :)
Thanks b!
great job
Since I didn't catch the broadcast I appreciate the review of this program and the link. I may just go take a listen as time allows, that was definitely a great group of people that were assembled to hash things out.
Definitely recommended, even just the first hour or two :)