Investing on Steem to support SMTs

The last couple days have been "Training Days" at work and it wasn't much like the Denzel Washington movie at all but, it was interesting. Even though it isn't in our scope of work much at all, we got some basic training using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator which was not overly helpful for me as I already have more experience than basic training covered but, it was nice to have a chance to play without needing to actually do anything.

As a training team, my colleagues tend to approach our work matters from a pedagogical perspective and one of the things they like to ask is, "what did you learn from the experience", which is a handy way to force a reflective review and reinforce various points. When done in a group, it can bring up points that passed others by. One of the things that people learned s that, graphical design and layout is harder to create than it is to pass judgement upon.

This is the same for everything though I would say. Judging is easy.

One of my friends was a pro hockey player and noted how people in the stands would criticize plays, even if hey have no idea what it is like on the ice. I saw him in Sweden a few weeks back and we talked about this a little and he commented it would be interesting to put the same person in the middle of the rink during a game and see how many calls they are able to make, even without the pressure layer of the game or, 5 guys trying to smash them into the boards at every opportunity.

We all have our skillsets and what some people struggle with, others make look easy as if it is not an issue for them at all. This is part of the reason I am looking forward to the introduction of specialized SMT websites that are created for specific uses, because individuals will be able to better accommodate their talent areas and create in line with their own interests. At the moment, this isn't possible with the limited range of ways one can interact on Steem and while it suits some, it isn't conducive to getting the best out of others.

However, these applications have to be community driven where members make the use case available rather than waiting for others to develop. This is much like starting a small business and carries risk if there is not enough demand but, that is the way of it. If there aren't the services available that people want to use, eventually people will create their own. On Steem of course, they could leave to another place that offers something more desirable - no one is a prisoner here.

But, when it comes to the creation of service or content, most people these days are used to not actually creating but consuming. How much content do people actually create on Facebook and Instagram if you consider that most of it is automated through the interface and pulled in through links? The income generated through advertising and virality of content is because one thing is replicated many times and people are in the habit of feeling that 'unearthing' new is valuable - the first to like a band, the first to see a show. Is this a skill of consumption?

Curation in some way is meant to be a reward for unearthing but it is not actually a very good mechanism in my opinion, as it doesn't factor in a critical component of the process and that is, who's eyes will see it. An influencer who shares a product on Instagram will push the sales of that product to their followers and generate more sales and likely, a knock on effect of shares as people will want to 'be the first' to share the post of someone they admire, a celebrity etc - even though they get nothing out of it and, it likely costs them as they may purchase the product too. Or desire it.

On Steem, unless a post is getting 300 dollars, it isn't going to be seen by anymore people because of the votes it gets. What does get a post scene is the sharing of it or, the quoting of it if it generates posts to be created from it. I try to mention people in my posts where possible in the hope that some of my followers will in turn check out the content or user quoted. I think there is value in this at several levels but I am unsure how much effect it has at the moment on Steem as, there is just so much content and so few eyes.

With the SMT portals to come, there is a chance that while each might have fewer people using them, the people will be more tailored for the niche meaning that they are able to more accurately judge the value and quality of the content created. In most cases on Steem, it is like throwing pearls before swine, no matter what the content is. A brilliant poem is going to be missed by most users who aren't interested in poetry, a fantastic photo by those who don't care, a funny meme by those who scroll past them as trash. While they might all be created as content and all good in their own right, the audience isn't large or diverse enough to support them all on Steem directly, through SMTs - yes.

Eventually there will be portals that are able to fragment communities into content niches where the people who are truly good at what they do can be appreciated by people interested in what they do. How many science writers on Steem could become influencers on a field specific site utilized by a global science community? How many artists? While they may not be influencers, they can be part of a community in a way that empowers them, their interests and their skillsets and add to the dialogue of the field. That is pretty sticky.

At the moment on Steem, there is still a lot of Steem-centric content being produced because, that is what many of the users are interested in right at this time but, as mainstreaming happens, it will drop off as it is no longer relevant to the community. Writing about Steem and being knowledgeable about Steem are different things and writing knowledgeably and well about Steem, different again. However, at this time, I encourage as many as possible to write about Steem and join in the discussions surrounding it because, it is the best way to learn about Steem.

While not every topic is easy and many, many of them are contentious in nature, talking and discussing elements of it shouldn't be held back because one is scared it might actually happen if people think about it enough. That is the benefit of a decentralized, uncensored platform - freedom of information availability.

In the last few days I have brought up a couple topics that have got a little bit more engagement than normal because, I was looking for more engagement with the community. This isn't about drama but the discussions had are valuable because they bring deeper understanding and mature the knowledge base of users who are active and interested in learning more. While I might not get a super high vote, or be able to add a lot of value with my own vote - I do have the ability to get some discussions going that influence people's thinking.

Unlike an Instagram "influencer", I am not trying to get people to buy a product (is Steem a product?) but rather consider investing themselves into a more personally enriching and valuable experience than being a replicator of influencer's productization of themselves. Consumption is necessary but what is consumed has an effect on what actions are taken after. I don't want people to invest themselves into Steem because it will make me rich, I want them to do it because as a rich community we will have the collective power to change many of the factors that hobble us as individuals and small communities.

As I see it and have mentioned several times, Steem is a protocol that empowers communities running SMTs and while not many people might be interested in holding Steem, there will be some who decide to support the SMTs by powering up. I think, those who do will make a decent return on their investment in time and still be able to interact on the SMT-powered platforms of their choosing. As these applications spiral outward, onboard and get further and further away from Steem, the Steem protocol network grows and becomes an integral part of many parts of the tokenized economy. Will it work, well I hope for @ned's sake it does.

I hope for all of us, because if it does work and Steem does become an ingrained token infrastructure, so many people who have never heard of or will ever care about Steem will be empowered and benefit from those who stabilize the system. No one seems to care that investors that bought into Facebook, Apple, Amazon and a myriad other sites became billionaires for doing so but, they think that those who power up for profit on Steem are the scum of the earth. Tell me, how many of the sites do you use have millionaires and billionaires behind them? Do you read the news online? Shop online? Watch Netflix? Youtube? But you don't want people on Steem to get rich??

The difference on Steem is that it will not be a handful of people that will benefit from the success but a massive amount, thousands upon thousands and those people will be distributed across the globe from the most well off to the poorest corners and, it can change lives, on and off Steem. Expecting it to be able to do it all now though is a poor position, especially from those who are unwilling to do any of the investing required to have this happen. Some however are going to try for that future, with or without others.

For me these days, I don't mind having conversations that make others uncomfortable because while it might cost me all of my support, it is likely what is needed for the right people to develop the understanding that they need to invest in or, develop the understanding that this place is not suitable for them at this time. There is nothing wrong with not being suitable at this time because it takes a certain skillset, mindset and tolerance level to be able to cope long-term here. This place has chewed up many in my time. All wanted success, few will find it by doing exactly what they want unless, what they want is what is required.

The coming future of content production and consumption has the potential to empower many creators and reward them greatly for it if they are good at what they do but, it doesn't mean that that time is now. No one needs to sit on the sidelines though and wait for the future. On Steem, there are always ways to participate in some way and some of those ways are likely to help to empower the creatives in the future too. I don't know what I will do when I can't write about Steem anymore but, I have more ideas about the future than just, Steem to the moon.

I like this place as it changes all the time.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]