THE STEEM MARKETPLACE: SO MUCH MORE THAN A SOCIAL NETWOK
I’ve come to a realization about Steemit that has got me VERY EXCITED
I have been thinking so much about this, the possibilities and the excitement literally got me flustered so I will try to explain as clearly as possible as I try to contain the explosion of thoughts going threw my mind.
I believe the first and foremost purpose of Steemit is to reward content creators. But when you begin to look at the platform in more depth this is just the first stage and a very small fraction of the platforms potential.
The Steemit Marketplace:
Steem has the power to reward content creators but also service providers and for physical products…
Now that everyone involved in the Steemit social network has a wallet and a balance, can make deposits and withdrawals it is completely possible to buy and sell good and services ALL WITHIN STEEMIT!!!
Infact its happening RIGHT NOW but no one is taking notice. I have been watching @craig-grant for a while now on youtube and now STEEMIT and he’s the one who opened my eyes to this awesome platform. Lately however Craig has been actually promoting and successfully selling his hand made beaded necklaces to other Steemit users.
SAY WHAT? YES !! There’s actually a marketplace in the making and I’m not sure if anyone realizes it.
The potential ramifications of this are HUGE!!! This opens up Steemit to an entire new class of user with as far as I'm concerned endless possibilities.
Content creators, popular personalities and merchants can now promote and sell products and or services directly on the Steemit platform, user to user… NO MIDDLEMAN. The great thing about this is with the Steem voting and reputation system it will be easy to avoid bad actors. There will certainly be an incentive for someone buying and selling good to have enough STEEMPOWER to be considered reputable and invested in the platform.
I am not a developer so I’m not sure how it would work but I can imagine a steemit.marketplace where users can buy and sell good freely from other users paying with Steem Dollars. There’s been so much HYPE around the OpenBazar and other similar marketplace platforms but not much activity on both the users and merchant side because they are often too complex and not user friendly.
The built in reputation system and voting system seems almost idea for this type of activity. Theoretically a user could even pay or possibly get a "discount" with a simple Upvote :-)
Maybe i’m getting ahead of myself but like I said earlier the ideas are running threw my head as I’m typing this.
WOW so much potential here… I’m going to give my brain a break and I’ll be back with more thought on the Steemit Marketplace.
Update: I can even imagine a "BUY NOW" button integrated into the platform that when click would automatically transfer the SteemDollars and make the purchase. Maybe only "reputable" merchants qualify to use the buynow button or requires a certain about of SteemPower to activate the merchant features...
This place is just amazing, it blows my mind.
Your are excited for a great reason..... Craig-Grant is awesome, he has his own thing going on and has a lot of followers. I did see him sell several of his amazing creations here on Steemit and I like the fact that he is showing everyone and keeping us all posted on his progress. I don't miss my daily Craig video(s).
Like you said, there is so many possibilities here for this exact type of thing and it's a way to get involved even if your not a great writer or blogger. I think that is another entire point, Steemit will come up with other revenue sources BESIDES high quality writing, photography, and what is was designed for.
Thanks for your post @satoshifpv.
I agree with some caveats. Whilst Steemit is already kind of a killer app - it would be even more effective if there was a marketplace where people could spend the money they earn. It could potentially create a true economy.
"Content creators, popular personalities and merchants can now promote and sell products and or services directly on the Steemit platform, user to user… NO MIDDLEMAN."
This is where the caveats come in. I think it would need to be done carefully though so as not to detract from the primary content sharing nature of Steemit and also to stop it turning into a shop front with people or businesses posting content that is of an advertorial nature.
Some strict rules would be required in order to control this. Perhaps also allowing people to hide (or switch off) marketplace functionality if they want to purely see standard content would help with that too.
If it could be done without detracting form everything else then it could be huge but it would need to be considered carefully so as not to damage the platform.
Right now the lack of ads and promotion is refreshing particularly when compared to the flood of such material we are bombarded with on other social media and content platforms. It is one of the main distinguishing features.
The potential is huge though if it could be done right.
@satoshifpv If your idea is reached t for it goes
Good article satoshifpv, we spotlight your article on our show and link back to it. https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemnation/steemnation-2-top-of-the-mountain