Based on the many comments from Steemit, Inc. personnel over a period of many months now, development of Steemit.com seems to be an afterthought. They stated a few months back that Steemit.com will only be "just good enough." And recently on Steemit.chat, @sneak stated that backend development is the priority for the foreseeable future.
Simple features and functionality that have/has been requested by users since last year continue to be disregarded in favor of half-developed ideas and changes to blockchain protocols that drastically change user behaviors. Some of these blockchain protocol changes haven't even been requested by users or developers - they just happen to be related to Steemit, Inc's plans for future development, which is the exact opposite of decentralization.
The real issue, though - as I have stated before - is the constant conflation between Steem the blockchain/platform and Steemit, Inc., the company that owns the social media site: Steemit.com. When development of the website doesn't happen and the company that owns it continues with hardforks and other backend development, what should users, developers, and investors think/expect? The confusion lies directly at the feet of the company.
So...what happens with Steemit?
If I were a betting man: Not much at all, at least not any time soon. There doesn't appear to be anyone at Steemit, Inc. who knows how to run a social media site/company. And if there's no development being done and no immediate plans for it, let's dispense with the "Beta" pretense and just accept that this may be about as good a website as we're likely to get.
I suppose we can wait for the 2018 road map to see what the plans are, but that'll be at least another three months away. And it's not likely that the planned release dates for 2018 will be entirely accurate anyway.
I like the idea of Steemit website so much. I agree with @nanzo-scoop and @ats-david.
It is becoming really dangerous to continue to ignore Steemit development.
This and only this was a success story so far. Steemit website. Not Steem!
As an experienced & successful internet marketeer, I can't wait any longer - I need to say this - @ned please read:
If you manage to combine this idea with an affiliate program giving 20% to the affiliates (20% of all Steem your referred users earn, not taking from them - adding 20% on the top of that), I am almost sure Steem will become the #1 crypto investment!
And several months later, on the top of success, you launch SMTs and everything else you planned!
Official steemit curators would increase the amount of centralization on the platform, and would do nothing to address the issues laid out in ATS-David's comment.
also you can't arbitrarily add "20% on top" as an affiliate reward, as that would increase the currency's inflation rate by 20%.
Centralization - no. This work may be paid from the existing Steem hold in @steem or other company related super-accounts. May or may not be done by witnesses (bad work - no community support). And the daily amount of voting power required is low even with the current Steem/USD rate... after this thing works it will not anyhow add to centralization.
This is in addition to development issues discussed by @ats-david. It is about how to make Steemit and thus Steem big using marketing side very quick. Tech side is also welcome for sure, but this marketing decision would be quick and efficient.
Even if it is, who cares about 20% if this is the way to increase Steem value by thousands of %.
I see this as a great marketing decision and will be really upset if @ned will not even read it. If @ned reads it, just thinks it is not suitable, fine, but I need to inform about this opportunity as it is also discussed with a number of other good online marketers and everybody agrees this may skyrocket Steemit with very low effort.
"Even if it is, who cares about 20% if this is the way to increase Steem value by thousands of %."
I'm sorry but if you believe that increasing the inflation rate by 20% is something that people shouldn't care about, you are not thinking clearly about this issue.
There's no rational reason to believe that such a decision would "increase steem by thousands of percent" - if only it were so easy.
There are many reasons to expect great results. For example, don't you think such a marketing approach:
will stimulate people to invest their time to MUCH better content, including comments?
stimulate tons of new users to register and to add value to the project knowing anyone can earn well from the start - just deliver the quality content?
Referring to TOP-30 posts/comments idea - this is super easy to implement, no risk at all. Referring to Affiliate Program - depends on where to get those 20% affiliate reward... but do we have any other idea how to skyrocket this project cheaper?
I know for sure - when a project does not have a huge marketing effort for daily promotion across all media channels, just do a non-greedy Affiliate Program. The more you share with affiliates the better - they will skyrocket your project. For example, IQoption - the largest trading website in the world - appeared from nowhere, became #1, billion dollars in turnover. Why? They were not greedy and offered 50% to their affiliates.
It's always been pretty clear that steemit.com isn't the top priority for Steemit Inc and I think it is the right choice. They should be focusing on the blockchain itself. We've already seen what individuals can do here with the releases of @Dtube and @Dsound. Making the backend work flawlessly even in the face of mass adoption would attract even more such individuals and projects.
Also SMT's would mean that these developers can do ICO raising funds just as with Ethereum. This is a big deal and will certainly grow the value of the whole ecosystem.
So I'm saying Steemit Inc should focus on the work behind the curtains. Make the engine work so car builders can use it.
Steemit.com will be just one of the many. It's just a stepping stone, nothing more.
I really have high hopes for steemit... i really do... I'm hoping whoever is actually behind the development of steemit.com will listen to the users and give them the 'social media' fixes that are keeping us from making it to the mainstream. I really think @ned and @dan were on to something here!!! Lets get steemit.com out of beta and really do this thing!!!!!!!!!!
I like the information :)
But for the future i have a little tips when it comes to making video.
The background music in this video was so load that it was no longer the background music, but become the main sound in this video, and some times it was actually difficult to hear what was said because the music was loader then the one that talked.
I only say this, because i think in the first place it was a great video and want the message in the video to be clear. :)
Hope you have a great day when u read this.
(Sadly i dont have voting power for upvote now, so i can only comment..)
I see the points you are making but I do feel back end dev is much more important right now. Remember that by any reasonable measure these are still the incredibly early days of this enterprise. I can live with a functioning site that could look prettier and I dont see any of the current UI issues as more than little niggles personally
Seriously. Any account can be killed by individual(s) with clout, publishers aren't going to sink in time/money/investment into a system with no protection nor recourse against that.
Thousands of (failing) social media websites vs Facebook. I know which I'd rather be!
The social media landscape shows where the trend is going... Audiences are congregating around a handful mega sites.
Done right I'd bet on a single decentralised blockchain social media platform/ token (e.g. Steem and it's apps) succeeding, over thousands of tokens/ sites with limited or no usage.
The premise of the OP is value flowing back to STEEM, it would make sense to make the core product... well, valuable.
The only way I see these thousands of tokens working out is if there is some revenue sharing or dividends or interest. The same way Steemit originally had interest on top of Steem Dollars is the way to attract people to buy these tokens.
Will people buy these tokens if they are just a gamblers paradise? No. If these tokens also are just a bunch of scams and startups then again it's very high risk and not necessarily going to be a high enough return to be fully worth it.
The early ICOs really have to be huge successes for this to takeoff and they have to be very effective profit generators. If the projects that launch these ICOs are just pie in the sky type stuff like we see on Ethereum then I don't see it being sustainable. At some point there has to be revenue and that revenue has to either be shared with token holders or tokens have to be bought back and burned to reduce supply over time to encourage people to hold it.
In order to have a few successes you need a massive amount of failed experiments. That's what the SMTs are about. Enabling devs to have control over a business rather than being at the mercy of STEEM Inc if it decides to chance the parameter on the STEEM token. (like the reward curve for example).
We reduced the chance of a hardfork massively by doing so.
actually, you've got the trend backward. It's going from mega site to specialized websites. Facebook had 1/2 as many post this year than the year before while specialized site such as snapchat or 4chan are going parabolic. (my job is as a Facebook advertiser, so I know where it's going)
The forum world, another example of specialized site, is a MASSIVE market ready to be tapped into. Combined they are almost as big as Facebook.
Finally, the chances that steemit.com becoming a top 10 website are extremely slim and putting all your eggs in that basket is risky. Empowering people with expertise and ideas to experiment, increase the chances of success.
I'd argue Snapchat is another mega-platform (rather than a specialised offshoot of something else). Imagine if Snapchat had diluted it's core offering before it had even gained traction (like Steem is proposing)?
Forums have been huge before Facebook. Yet people know Reddit to be the premiere forum.
Steem should focus on gaining a critical mass (as the blockchain, user-reward based social media platform), before outreach. Success with Steem first, then SMTs become more viable...
Great question! First there are the token characteristics which would be immediately superior with 3 second fee-less transfers, but more importantly they would be able to launch the token with minimal engineering investment. People seriously underestimate just how much work it requires to launch an ERC20 before you even get to the mechanics of making sure that the token actually serves a function. Kik doesn't want to be a blockchain company and they shouldn't have to be just to integrate a token that actually works. When SMTs launch they will be far and away the easiest and most efficient way to integrate a token that will just work. The tokens will immediately start flowing to Kik's most valuable users as determined by the stake-weighted upvotes of Kik's users.
STEEM was never about steemit alone. Steemit is a proof of concept of what the STEEM blockchain was capable of. That doesn't mean steemit will stop to develop but it means that now devs won't start their own chain because they have no power to decide on their reward pool parameter and raise fund like Steemit INC was able to.
Critical mass will be achieve by thousands of experiments, maybe steemit.com will be the one to make it but why bank on one alone?
@cryptoctopus 4chan going parabolic? Really? Can you point me at some evidence to back that claim? Not disputing it - like you said this stuff IS your job, just surprised and curious
True. Enable others, everyone should take a look at Ethereum. It's a platform that enables everyone to build something on it and raise funds for their projects - and is doing quite well one could say. I'd rather replicate that.
@nanzo-scoop I totally agree with you. Before joining steemit I used to surf hours on Facebook. But now I pay about 90% of my free time on steemit. Because as you said its valuable..
the internet is the environment on which thousands of websites can be created. it was free and decentralized and marketing found a way to centralize it again. seeing all these bots receiving investments in steem dollars by transfers of the authors to bots which are returning them the sum multipled by 1.5 as a reward under their posts is already pointing in wrong direction. but that can be fixed. anyway, a free network is no guarantee to be free of loopholes that can be exploited by clever people in the market.
How much flexibility do companies have over Steem is the question? Does a company like say Reddit have the ability to launch an SMT which then allows holders of this token to for example receive a share of the revenue of Reddit.com? In that case I see huge huge potential for SMT because all these media companies are not going to want to recreate Steem if they can just launch their own tokens over it and have their own economies or economic kingdoms.
This is the best-case scenario that I imagine. Like content/audience auditing software for organizations that already exist to evaluate where eyeballs are coming from and where dollars should go regarding producers. A turnkey solution
Yes, this is the same question I had (if I read your comment correctly). What stops them from launching their own cryptocurrencies?
Your post confirmed what I was pondering:
... these media companies are not going to want to recreate Steem if they can just launch their own tokens over it and have their own economies or economic kingdoms.
I think Steemit will remain to stay its own kind of Social Media platform, especially concerning the blockchain world as its topic. Why would they stop developing Steemit though? It's still in beta right? I would assume SMT's to just be a part of the whole Steemit project, not a way to spend all their time and attention on just that.
Certainty is always a good thing though...
In an ideal world this announcement would have coincided with a major upgrade to Steemit or release of a new app (e.g. the mobile app). If Steem Inc can do both, with no impact on the other, then fantastic. Let's see.
Great question, looking forward to that. A referral/affiliate program would be great too I am working on getting a few very talented friends here. Cheers ;)
Steemit will become the social media site where all the Steem millionaires and billionaires hang out, and where all the hopefuls come to persuade people to support their new tokens.
Based on the many comments from Steemit, Inc. personnel over a period of many months now, development of Steemit.com seems to be an afterthought. They stated a few months back that Steemit.com will only be "just good enough." And recently on Steemit.chat, @sneak stated that backend development is the priority for the foreseeable future.
Simple features and functionality that have/has been requested by users since last year continue to be disregarded in favor of half-developed ideas and changes to blockchain protocols that drastically change user behaviors. Some of these blockchain protocol changes haven't even been requested by users or developers - they just happen to be related to Steemit, Inc's plans for future development, which is the exact opposite of decentralization.
The real issue, though - as I have stated before - is the constant conflation between Steem the blockchain/platform and Steemit, Inc., the company that owns the social media site: Steemit.com. When development of the website doesn't happen and the company that owns it continues with hardforks and other backend development, what should users, developers, and investors think/expect? The confusion lies directly at the feet of the company.
So...what happens with Steemit?
If I were a betting man: Not much at all, at least not any time soon. There doesn't appear to be anyone at Steemit, Inc. who knows how to run a social media site/company. And if there's no development being done and no immediate plans for it, let's dispense with the "Beta" pretense and just accept that this may be about as good a website as we're likely to get.
I suppose we can wait for the 2018 road map to see what the plans are, but that'll be at least another three months away. And it's not likely that the planned release dates for 2018 will be entirely accurate anyway.
Steemit is an experiment, nothing more...
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an experiment ? do you mean that will not improve and we are wasting our time here ?
I would say that is a question; but I believe you are asking the wrong person.. ;-)
Maybe, they plan to get the "backend" to a level best suited for mass adoption?
wow
I like the idea of Steemit website so much. I agree with @nanzo-scoop and @ats-david.
It is becoming really dangerous to continue to ignore Steemit development.
This and only this was a success story so far. Steemit website. Not Steem!
As an experienced & successful internet marketeer, I can't wait any longer - I need to say this - @ned please read:
If you manage to combine this idea with an affiliate program giving 20% to the affiliates (20% of all Steem your referred users earn, not taking from them - adding 20% on the top of that), I am almost sure Steem will become the #1 crypto investment!
And several months later, on the top of success, you launch SMTs and everything else you planned!
Official steemit curators would increase the amount of centralization on the platform, and would do nothing to address the issues laid out in ATS-David's comment.
also you can't arbitrarily add "20% on top" as an affiliate reward, as that would increase the currency's inflation rate by 20%.
Hi heymattsokol. Thanks for your reply.
I see this as a great marketing decision and will be really upset if @ned will not even read it. If @ned reads it, just thinks it is not suitable, fine, but I need to inform about this opportunity as it is also discussed with a number of other good online marketers and everybody agrees this may skyrocket Steemit with very low effort.
"Even if it is, who cares about 20% if this is the way to increase Steem value by thousands of %."
I'm sorry but if you believe that increasing the inflation rate by 20% is something that people shouldn't care about, you are not thinking clearly about this issue.
There's no rational reason to believe that such a decision would "increase steem by thousands of percent" - if only it were so easy.
There are many reasons to expect great results. For example, don't you think such a marketing approach:
Referring to TOP-30 posts/comments idea - this is super easy to implement, no risk at all. Referring to Affiliate Program - depends on where to get those 20% affiliate reward... but do we have any other idea how to skyrocket this project cheaper?
I know for sure - when a project does not have a huge marketing effort for daily promotion across all media channels, just do a non-greedy Affiliate Program. The more you share with affiliates the better - they will skyrocket your project. For example, IQoption - the largest trading website in the world - appeared from nowhere, became #1, billion dollars in turnover. Why? They were not greedy and offered 50% to their affiliates.
I dont know why "they" throw such a great idea and just sat on it like this...reminds of Bernie Mac in def jam when asked a prisoner:
B: Say brother, why u here 4?
P: Nuttin!
B:Well how long u here 4?
P: 'Ever!
B: That's a very long time that u took the "4" out that maddaphaka
Interesting how people think they can make money on steem by replying to posts...
@coingirl sometimes it happens...its called the lazy man syndrome..
Bookmark
It's always been pretty clear that steemit.com isn't the top priority for Steemit Inc and I think it is the right choice. They should be focusing on the blockchain itself. We've already seen what individuals can do here with the releases of @Dtube and @Dsound. Making the backend work flawlessly even in the face of mass adoption would attract even more such individuals and projects.
Also SMT's would mean that these developers can do ICO raising funds just as with Ethereum. This is a big deal and will certainly grow the value of the whole ecosystem.
So I'm saying Steemit Inc should focus on the work behind the curtains. Make the engine work so car builders can use it.
Steemit.com will be just one of the many. It's just a stepping stone, nothing more.
Very interesting counter point!
I really have high hopes for steemit... i really do... I'm hoping whoever is actually behind the development of steemit.com will listen to the users and give them the 'social media' fixes that are keeping us from making it to the mainstream. I really think @ned and @dan were on to something here!!! Lets get steemit.com out of beta and really do this thing!!!!!!!!!!
I like the information :)
But for the future i have a little tips when it comes to making video.
The background music in this video was so load that it was no longer the background music, but become the main sound in this video, and some times it was actually difficult to hear what was said because the music was loader then the one that talked.
I only say this, because i think in the first place it was a great video and want the message in the video to be clear. :)
Hope you have a great day when u read this.
(Sadly i dont have voting power for upvote now, so i can only comment..)
I see the points you are making but I do feel back end dev is much more important right now. Remember that by any reasonable measure these are still the incredibly early days of this enterprise. I can live with a functioning site that could look prettier and I dont see any of the current UI issues as more than little niggles personally
:( lameeeee
Seriously. Any account can be killed by individual(s) with clout, publishers aren't going to sink in time/money/investment into a system with no protection nor recourse against that.
What's better? Being a successful website or being the environment on which thousands of social media websites can be created?
Thousands of (failing) social media websites vs Facebook. I know which I'd rather be!
The social media landscape shows where the trend is going... Audiences are congregating around a handful mega sites.
Done right I'd bet on a single decentralised blockchain social media platform/ token (e.g. Steem and it's apps) succeeding, over thousands of tokens/ sites with limited or no usage.
The premise of the OP is value flowing back to STEEM, it would make sense to make the core product... well, valuable.
The only way I see these thousands of tokens working out is if there is some revenue sharing or dividends or interest. The same way Steemit originally had interest on top of Steem Dollars is the way to attract people to buy these tokens.
Will people buy these tokens if they are just a gamblers paradise? No. If these tokens also are just a bunch of scams and startups then again it's very high risk and not necessarily going to be a high enough return to be fully worth it.
The early ICOs really have to be huge successes for this to takeoff and they have to be very effective profit generators. If the projects that launch these ICOs are just pie in the sky type stuff like we see on Ethereum then I don't see it being sustainable. At some point there has to be revenue and that revenue has to either be shared with token holders or tokens have to be bought back and burned to reduce supply over time to encourage people to hold it.
In order to have a few successes you need a massive amount of failed experiments. That's what the SMTs are about. Enabling devs to have control over a business rather than being at the mercy of STEEM Inc if it decides to chance the parameter on the STEEM token. (like the reward curve for example).
We reduced the chance of a hardfork massively by doing so.
Of course but you need early successes to build enough momentum to have permission to fail. Perception matters!
we will be able to downvote and call out scams. This is not possible with Ether ICOs
The BLOCKCHAIN is where it is about, but without steem will be imposible :-)
There's bound to be some successes in there too! Maybe one greater than facebook!
actually, you've got the trend backward. It's going from mega site to specialized websites. Facebook had 1/2 as many post this year than the year before while specialized site such as snapchat or 4chan are going parabolic. (my job is as a Facebook advertiser, so I know where it's going)
The forum world, another example of specialized site, is a MASSIVE market ready to be tapped into. Combined they are almost as big as Facebook.
Finally, the chances that steemit.com becoming a top 10 website are extremely slim and putting all your eggs in that basket is risky. Empowering people with expertise and ideas to experiment, increase the chances of success.
I'd argue Snapchat is another mega-platform (rather than a specialised offshoot of something else). Imagine if Snapchat had diluted it's core offering before it had even gained traction (like Steem is proposing)?
Forums have been huge before Facebook. Yet people know Reddit to be the premiere forum.
Steem should focus on gaining a critical mass (as the blockchain, user-reward based social media platform), before outreach. Success with Steem first, then SMTs become more viable...
If Kik wanted to launch via a Steem SMT what advantage would they have on Steem vs on Ethereum?
Great question! First there are the token characteristics which would be immediately superior with 3 second fee-less transfers, but more importantly they would be able to launch the token with minimal engineering investment. People seriously underestimate just how much work it requires to launch an ERC20 before you even get to the mechanics of making sure that the token actually serves a function. Kik doesn't want to be a blockchain company and they shouldn't have to be just to integrate a token that actually works. When SMTs launch they will be far and away the easiest and most efficient way to integrate a token that will just work. The tokens will immediately start flowing to Kik's most valuable users as determined by the stake-weighted upvotes of Kik's users.
Community Liaison, Steemit
STEEM was never about steemit alone. Steemit is a proof of concept of what the STEEM blockchain was capable of. That doesn't mean steemit will stop to develop but it means that now devs won't start their own chain because they have no power to decide on their reward pool parameter and raise fund like Steemit INC was able to.
Critical mass will be achieve by thousands of experiments, maybe steemit.com will be the one to make it but why bank on one alone?
As with most development it is rarely "either/ or" but prioritisation and timing.
It would be good to hear from Steemit Inc on how development and roadmap of Steemit and other apps (e.g. mobile app) will be impacted by SMT.
this development goes hand in hand with the community feature. I would expect the major overhaul of the front-end by SteemFest.
@cryptoctopus 4chan going parabolic? Really? Can you point me at some evidence to back that claim? Not disputing it - like you said this stuff IS your job, just surprised and curious
I agree with you. But the SMT improves the probability that the evolving mega site will use the steem blockchain.
@amirl you have been followed
True. Enable others, everyone should take a look at Ethereum. It's a platform that enables everyone to build something on it and raise funds for their projects - and is doing quite well one could say. I'd rather replicate that.
Yes I agreed with you @nanzo-scoop
@nanzo-scoop I totally agree with you. Before joining steemit I used to surf hours on Facebook. But now I pay about 90% of my free time on steemit. Because as you said its valuable..
the internet is the environment on which thousands of websites can be created. it was free and decentralized and marketing found a way to centralize it again. seeing all these bots receiving investments in steem dollars by transfers of the authors to bots which are returning them the sum multipled by 1.5 as a reward under their posts is already pointing in wrong direction. but that can be fixed. anyway, a free network is no guarantee to be free of loopholes that can be exploited by clever people in the market.
it wasn't marketing that found a way. It's just the 80/20 rule happening...all creative endeavors distribute themselves according to this power law.
Holly Smokes @nanzo-scoop - you scooped me!
@greenman you have been followed
lol @joendegz you have equally been followed and same as you @greenman
Great people at work
excelenty!
Really, really good!
of course
you have been followed
cool. will follow too asap
How much flexibility do companies have over Steem is the question? Does a company like say Reddit have the ability to launch an SMT which then allows holders of this token to for example receive a share of the revenue of Reddit.com? In that case I see huge huge potential for SMT because all these media companies are not going to want to recreate Steem if they can just launch their own tokens over it and have their own economies or economic kingdoms.
This is the best-case scenario that I imagine. Like content/audience auditing software for organizations that already exist to evaluate where eyeballs are coming from and where dollars should go regarding producers. A turnkey solution
Yes, this is the same question I had (if I read your comment correctly). What stops them from launching their own cryptocurrencies?
Your post confirmed what I was pondering:
I think Steemit will remain to stay its own kind of Social Media platform, especially concerning the blockchain world as its topic. Why would they stop developing Steemit though? It's still in beta right? I would assume SMT's to just be a part of the whole Steemit project, not a way to spend all their time and attention on just that.
Certainty is always a good thing though...
In an ideal world this announcement would have coincided with a major upgrade to Steemit or release of a new app (e.g. the mobile app). If Steem Inc can do both, with no impact on the other, then fantastic. Let's see.
Damn nanzo ur on fire ma man 😁 tell em 😁👶
so what is up with the mobile app? any word if it will still be out by the end of the year?
Great question, looking forward to that. A referral/affiliate program would be great too I am working on getting a few very talented friends here. Cheers ;)
So will SMTs be a positive or a negative for the value of the STEEM token? Based on @ned's video, sounds like a positive?
Steemit will become the social media site where all the Steem millionaires and billionaires hang out, and where all the hopefuls come to persuade people to support their new tokens.
22 Reasons you should buy my token!
@surfyogi you have been followed
@kendewitt you have been followed
Scoop that was suoer dope . holla at your boy ya herd....
@urbansteemers you have been followed
Steem will be considered
@zahidzzs you have been followed
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