RE: Is gamification the answer to Steem problems? Initial thoughts after watching hours of talks about gamification.
The money aspect shouldn't matter so much if you treat it like all those platforms that pay you nothing.
Actually, this go against research which says... that people actually perform much better when no monetary rewards is given.
Actually... research says that paying for something, and later paying less and less is one of the easiest way to kill a passion.
Whether people stick around depends on whether they enjoy the experience and if they think it has a future.
You do not have to enjoy the experience to stay. I do not enjoy being on linkedin, I just know I need it from time to time. I do not enjoy being on some different websites, but I already spent so much time customizing my experience... and I don't want to try to re-create this experience in a different place. People may do not like their blogs on wordpress, but switching to another platform is a lot of a hassle.
Steem can be great if you find the right people to hang out with and I hope more of those will join up.
With respect to all people here... there are even more awesome people in the other places. You can find awesome people everywhere if you will look long enough. Ok... if Steem would be better in recommending awesome friends to new users... it would be awesome, but Steem do not works like that, so it means that the fact that you can meet here great people is... a little bit random, like in other places.
That is exctly the problem with Steem, users expect easy "monetary" rewards when they join and quickly leave when they see the "monetary" inequality on each page load.
On Fakebook users at least don't see the bank accounts of those who exploit and sell their private data by stealing their time/life.
One feature i think would make a BIG diffence and actually make people stay is, the ability to turn off the damn $ sign from each post view.
People want to be social not for profit but for being social and the damn $ sign on each page view is killing the only thing we all really care about.
So those who are here only for the profit can have the $ sign all over, but those who prioritise other values should have the option to turn the $ off.
Reward with more than just money. Also reward long term engagement so people have a reason not to leave. If you only offer short term monetary rewards and nothing else then what do you expect?
Long term monetary rewards don't exist. Status hierarchy doesn't exist. There is no ranking. Reputation doesn't mean anything on Steem.
You raise a very good point here. That number on the post, with our without the $ sign, indicates a monetary or reward value and it's always going to be the elephant in the room. When we socialise with people we rarely know how much of an income they get and it's often considered rude to ask. Yet when it does come up there is either a feeling of envy that they earn more or guilt or smugness that they earn less, depending on what sort of person you are.
Hiding that number could potentially sort out quite a few other problems too. Firstly, people would vote on something for the value they genuinely want to give it and not be influenced by others' votes. They wouldn't be voting with curation return in mind. Flagging might not be such a problem as a revenge tactic and bickering tool.
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I know there are great people elsewhere and that's why I still use other platforms. Mind you, Google+ will go soon and I may lose touch with some people I follow there as I don't have time to join more sites.
I saw potential in Steem from the start. It's very different to most platforms, but it does rely on the users to make it succeed rather than a marketing department. That hasn't been happening for various reasons, but I still hope it can grow.
Happy new year!
Not every reward is money but some reward has to exist for people to perform. It can be a social reward, a psychological reward, but it has to be something.
A very very good point that you heard Yu-kai about "bribery" for reading/blogging =) He calls it killing the intrinsic power by rewards