Is Steemit the New YouTube? Are You the Next PewdiePie? What about #The30DayDeath?
Wait. You mean that guy's made nearly $12 MILLION just playing video games, cursing at barrels, and doing that funny dance?
In 2013, I probably should have won "Mom of the Year" - at least if the voting base consisted of 13-year-olds.
I took my daughter to VidCon out in Anaheim. Basically, this meant standing in a lot of LONG lines, hoping (OK, I was praying... hard) we'd reach the front so she could get autographs from the famous YouTubers she followed. Sometimes, it nearly got ugly. Young teens don't queue, yo.
But THIS happened...
PewDiePie
And this.
SMOSH
And this.
Jack of JacksFilms - Your Grammar Sucks
And THIS!
Tobuscus
Hey, I can go all day when it comes to showing you pictures of my kids... but I won't do that today.
My point in showing you these funny folks is to cast a little vision for us all - to express a little bit of why Steemit is so exciting.
And while each of these famous YouTubers has wit, talent, and was extraordinarily gracious to their fans, there's something else sure to catch your attention.
Let me show you some other, more fascinating pictures. These screenshots were taken from www.statsheep.
Here's the thing I heard a LOT at Vidcon...
People were there to meet the YouTubers they loved... but many were ALSO there to find out how to "make it" on YouTube themselves. What I kept hearing from the podium was that it was no longer quite so easy to get HUGE on YouTube as it was... when THEY first got started, early on. It took all of these YouTube superstars a while to get rolling - but now they've created the kinds of vast content libraries that have reached multiple millions of people, generating multiple billions of views. It took time.
Is Steemit the New YouTube?
I've heard people say:
- Steemit's like Reddit... but you can get paid.
- Steemit's like if Medium had a love child with Bitcoin.
But the way I explain it is that WE are the first folks in a pool that could turn out to be bigger, even, than YouTube.
Just Picture It...
People are flocking to Steemit. According to a recent article on www.CryptoCoinNews.com:
"Worth around one U.S. dollar, half of the $1.3 million reward was given to users in Steem Dollars, while the remaining half was in Steem Power. Steemit also announced that they recorded a user growth rate of 1600% from May to June and from June to July it doubled again."
A growth rate of 1600%?
This explanation of Steemit has launched a thousand ships in my own home... (OK. FOUR. Four ships. Sheesh. My husband-like being, my two spawn, and my spawn-like being have each begun posting (one did pretty well!) - or are working on their first post still.)
But That Brings Up a Whole 'Nuther Question... #The30DayDeath
There's currently #The30DayDeath payout plan on posts. Meaning, you can do a great post and make some serious money the day you post... or within the next 30 days.
Or, you could do a great post and hear crickets.
But then, THAT'S IT. You're done. You're still here? It's over. Go home.
Even if a million people find your post on Day 31 and up-vote and comment the crap out of it, it's dead.
Doesn't it seem like it would be smart for Steemit to allow old posts to gather value as new users find them and like them? The content stays on the blockchain for always and eternity - should it not be possible for it to continue to reward creators a bit longer, too? Or is there a downside that I'm not seeing?
Whatever the powers that be decide about the #the30daydeath issue, these are some exciting times for content creators on Steemit. Don't you think?
Many thanks to several Steemarians who've chatted with me lately on this and helped me to clarify my thoughts. Hoping they'll write about it as well.
Written with StackEdit.
Steemit is changing. Quickly. And based on lessons learned from the last weeks, months. In the first place we didn't have the "reputation", "trending(30days)" category that let you gain more votes/money. Now we have it. Maybe in the future this 30days limit will disappear. It's all about where the community goes. And the votes of many, and the discussions.
We're moving forward. Maybe too quickly but at least we're in Beta. Still a lot to do.
By the way, do you know about steemtools.com ? A lot of guys are continuously improving this. I do my part with comments.
It IS astonishing how quickly Steemit is changing. Anything is possible here.
Holy SMOKES there are some exciting tools on www.steemtools.com! As if this platform weren't addicting enough... now there is no way I'll ever see the light of day again :) Thanks for the link. I'd seen some of these tools by themselves, but am drooling over the grand repository.
Wait until you see what we have in store next :)
Also I use: steemstats.com, steemwhales.com, steemd.com.
Yes fishborne. If this thing is to evolve, then surely those who evolve inside it should have some sort of control or influence? If we're going to make something great out of this, then let's have input into it so that it's for the people and by the people.
Yes, the control and influence is called "reputation" and SP here, on Steemit. Be active, engage in discussions and we will have a better STEEMIT. Some of the features you see are the result of large discussions.
Hi Susan. 30 day curation and archaic libraries don't seem like good bedroom partners to me. If we're going to have our posts forever in Steemit, what's the point? Is it because the chain has to be full up and then just moves onto the next comment or something? Surely Steemit has to relent on this issue and allow value on older posts. There could be a whole host of people who join in 31 days time who could have reached new understanding on a post, brought a wonderful, common concensus on an issue of real importance, but then can't ascribe value to the original poster. It's true that the person could re-post. In fact, one could argue, that if you yourself assign real value to a post, that you could re-post it periodically for newer members, or those who had reflected on an issue. But that would mean recycling where recycling shouldn't really be needed. I understand that steemit wants to have a vital currency. They want to ascribe value to new posts about current issues of today, and not linger on yesterday. Presumably, they believe that there will be a vitality associated with this. But why have history books? Why ever talk about the past, if not to re-assess, in terms of new developments, new experiences, new insights, or just to remember? If steemit is about value, then I hope you'll agree that they need to take another look at this.
I do agree - and believe the powers that be will look at this more closely to find a way that creates a win for everyone involved, both the newer users who get to discover great content, and the creators of that content.
It only makes sense that, no matter how old the post, value should be retained somehow, without the need to re-post again and again.
I think Steemit needs a better interface to see older posts, just like YouTube does with its various category searches and sidebar feed of related videos (which also includes other recent unrelated searches and video views related to those).
The ability to add comments should also not be cut off after a set time period, and the more comments by a growing base of readers to any particular article should count toward the ranking of those articles, regardless how long ago they were posted.
The 30 day death seems a bit odd. I read that it was due to load on the servers but that was discounted pretty quick. Hopefully it gets reconsidered pretty soon.
I agree with @steevc that posts should have value past 30 days. I don't know how that would work, but it only makes sense.
I totally think at some point Steemit will be right up there with YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. So glad to get in early.
That is why my article died all of a sudden after it made like $400...I am not complaining at all though because I have only gained and not lost in Steemit..I tell everyone that you can finally get paid for your thoughts and what you know. You can literally say goodbye to sale pages, etc bc you can put your knowledge up on Steemit in a smart way and get paid for it...This will disrupt everything breathing on the net as we know it...Can you imagine Amazon having this technology in their reviews: Pay people in crypto currencies with their sincere/honest reviews and down vote if the buyer is lying :-)...Light bulb...haha
The thought that you get paid for being honest is certainly an interesting idea. It turns things around completely lol. People could get used to it if you gave them a chance !! Yeah, you would have to be really careful when advertising and reviewing.
Love this post, and love that you took your girl to VidCon - I can imagine that she must have been in raptures meeting those guys! :o) I agree with what you wrote about #The30DayDeath issue: I don't understand it either - like you, I'm wondering why it is what it is, and feeling a bit sad for all thise awesome posts that will just, well............die. Are you any the wiser since you wrote this? xx
I think VidCon will be one of her favorite memories - it was really neat seeing her so excited to meet these guys. On #The30DayDeath, no, still no wiser. I hear people talking about searchability improvements that the platform needs, and suspect that would at least make older posts findable - even if they're not eligible for a payout. There are lots of Steemit mysteries still in my mind, and while I'm learning more every day, this one lingers.