Laughing At The Zuckerberg Empire: Some Interesting Things To Ponder
As I watch my SBD to BTC orders on Poloniex, my thoughts drift to my Facebook threads yesterday.
I was having a great discussion with several other fans and early adopters of this platform, Steemit, discussing the merits of this platform and the kind of market it will reach versus the market that Facebook is reaching now.
More than one person pointed out to me that Steemit is for people motivated to create quality content, and Facebook is a massive social media network that meets many other human needs other than that.
I think that is a valid point to make, because it shows two things:
- Steemit may very well be it's own new kind of concept, that will draw off a lot of the content creators on Facebook over time, but may still not cause Facebook to take any real loss, since Facebook provides all kinds of entertainment and easy human connection aside from a platform for content creators.
- The most brilliant social media platforms of the future may very well be those that manage to integrate everything: content creation, free market economic principles that drive how humans connect, entertainment and connection on an easy user interface.
I do want to point out something that I think can be taken as EITHER a slap in the face to the Facebook Empire that Zuckerberg launched, OR a tip of the hat to the value it did add, depending on how you look at it (and I'm interested to hear the feedback of the best minds out there in the Steemit community):
Myself, along with many others, are now capitalizing on (and then re-investing in) a massive audience we worked to generate on Facebook-- while Facebook gets none of these particular rewards, and Steemit gets it all. I never invested (other than my time itself, which arguable IS money) more than $5 actual FRNs in Facebook for some advertising test for a page of mine, I didn't attach my bank account to it to build by audience. Yet I am now reaping the rewards by calling my audience and that network over to Steemit.
I would love to hear from the audience here, do you think that Steemit will at all take even a NOTICEABLE chunk out of Facebook if enough people move over and invest/profit here?
Or do you think the Zuckerbergian Empire is too big to notice much or care? Perhaps Steemit isn't a real threat, but the concept behind it being used to launch a new social media paradigm where more platforms are created that DO topple Facebook?
A friend in my comment strand (he may name himself here if he wishes) mentioned that Steemit is more than likely going to eat into the Reddit audience since it is more comparable, yet I know at least dozens of people who are planning to only post on Facebook to share Steemit posts, until all their audience is mostly gone or moved to Steemit, which would mean Facebook stands to lose at least a FEW major contributors to it, though perhaps not all that major in relation to the immense size of the Zuckerberg kingdom.
I find thought predictions and creative/innovative thinking really fascinating to watch among discussion groups with intelligent and knowledgeable minds, and all of you in the Steemit community are great at it so far as I have seen.
So, my fellow Dragons of Thought, HAVE AT IT BELOW!!!
(someone better comment with the Russel Crowe meme that says "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" after this gets going. )
I wrote a post last week about why I shared something on Facebook and not on Steemit. You might find it interesting. People still desire to post selfies, cat photos, pictures of their dinner, what they did that afternoon, etc... and I think Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great for that. Medium? Reddit? No so much. Same goes for Steemit, I think, but here's the key:
The Steem Blockchain can be whatever we want it to be.
There are already projects going on to make Twitter clones, as an example. The database is there for anyone to innovate with and any new user interface "skin" can be put on top of it. In the future, I imagine each industry having their own Steemit clone which caters to their market vertical, complete with custom UI and plugin interactions.
When I got on Facebook, I was immediately aware that the ONLY thing I wanted it for was NOT what it was designed for. It seems it was made as a platform for personal yammering and connecting. I wanted to--and did--use it to spread the ideas of self-ownership, non-aggression, and a stateless society. And I found it rather useful for that... even if I made nothing from it, and even if various fascist/censorship/stupidity aspects of Facebook sometimes got in the way. Anyway, it's nice to see a platform (Steemit) made for what I actually WANT to use it for.
It is exactly what is designed for... the question is what it has become.
A VERY nasty place. You might want to read my article on it as well.
https://steemit.com/activism/@johnster/sue-facebook-why-i-have-a-strong-aversion-against-facebook-turn-them-in-and-or-see-them-in-court
Agreed. And I think that Facebook does serve a purpose as far as networking goes and simple communication between friends, which this platform doesn't really have - or doesn't make as readily available. And you can definitely reach more people on Facebook (for now), but now you don't have to worry about content being removed or accounts being shut down because someone's feelings were hurt.
In other words - you can skip the BS and just create rich, quality content. Then you can use those suckers at Facebook to spread the message further and draw more people away from the platform, if they're looking to leave it.
Let Zuckerberg go the way of Myspace, Blockbuster, and Blackberry.
I think the only downside to Steemit right now is the lack of a "timeline" or profile page where you can communicate with your audience and network, without the need for a post. This is the advantage that Facebook has. It's not easy to build a following here, especially when your content is quickly buried due to the sheer number of posters.
In any case...
I look forward to the possibility of people being able to create their own "private networks" on Steemit between their friends and acquaintances. eg: sharing photos, status updates, etc. only to their friends, as on Facebook, without them being publicly viewable.
I know this may wander off from the original intent of Steemit, but it doesn't seem it would fall completely out of line either. Their "feed" and follow/follower function is already Twitter-like, although needs a bit more development.
I don't even know who's following me. I think that if they make that a functional link - to see all of your followers and be able to click on them to go to their page - it would make the networking aspect a little easier. You can always private chat in the chat function, but right now, that's separate from the rest of this. I'm sure certain things will be worked out over time. Then again, it may not be what the community wants. The ability to set up your own private networks is a good idea, though.
Agree. I'd like to see who is following me, so I can at least follow back interesting people out of courtesy! (which is what I try to do on Twitter) I hope they add this feature.
All so true... I have very nasty experiences with FB as well.
You might want to read this: https://steemit.com/activism/@johnster/sue-facebook-why-i-have-a-strong-aversion-against-facebook-turn-them-in-and-or-see-them-in-court Thank you for considering. Upvoted.
I would say for it to catch on and take a share away a couple things should/need to happen. The $ sign on the posts ultimately detract from any for on social networking. Social media sure, but the friends and family part, not so much. I Having the feed button helps a lot, and I think "groups" would add a lot more. If I could create my own front page, say for example, I wanted topics shown from #crossfamily. I don't know if that is the entire solution, but it would allow users to use the system in a facebook style manner without having to care about why their posting didn't make $100
I think people will till use facebook for other things (namely to interact with family friends form school, work, church, or whatever.. I do predict though that people who make informative posts or articles, will write those on steemit and then share that on facebook and twitter.
I'm entertained now!
I think it will take a bit from facebook because now we're incentivized to simply put great content on Steemit and only a catchy title on Facebook. Whereas before, we would spend more time on facebook's actual platform, scrolling down there and what was there all over the sides of the page we're looking at? ADS! See you later ads (for now) because steemit doesn't have em (yet). So that would take a hit on Facebook for sure.
We are in the market for attention right now, and resources are limited. If people are spending more time on Steemit, they are obviously taking that time away from somewhere. But, Facebook is not going down any time soon.
1: It has entangled people with connections that they often wouldn't have anywhere else. Quitting Facebook is somewhat like quitting friends and family at this point. And as a famous cowboy once said, "I can't quit you!"
(I don't see my 70 year-old aunt Darla, three states over, posting on Steemit any time soon.)
2: Fecebook is heavily entrenched in bringing VR to the mainstream. If you can sit in a room by yourself with goggles on, and feel like you're in a room with 3 of your closest friends to have a "face-to-face" discussion, you won't abandon that platform entirely, just for the privilege of reading long-ish form content.
I love Steemit and I am STOKED about the possibilities. But much like Tesla with the auto industry, I think Steemit will be more of a catalyst for change in the social media industry than it is likely to put anyone else out of business.