RE: Why Buy STEEM? And Why Buy STEEM!
This is a great article with a lot of talking points.
Let me answer your question: I do not put more money into buying Steem, because I do not feel the Large Investors will respect my investment and treat my money as carefully as I do. For example, not flagging Haejin and other coingrabbers. There are too many people who are stacking coins vs. working on the real investment which is the people who use the site.
Content does not hold value, the eyes that view the content is where the value is at. Not enough users care about that element at all.
Hence I feel like my investment will be liquidated by the large users.
People manage money, code does not.
I also want to comment on your thoughts about the community. There are some great people here, but we have a culture that leans towards everyone is on their own. This does not foster and create cooperation and as a result, we have not retained new users and I believe there is more to it than the money when it comes to retention. People seek pleasure and avoid pain, - Psychology tells us this. So, posting an article without getting any feedback is painful, while getting feedback creates a feeling of pleasure. Sounds dramatic, but emotions are really important in building and marketing a site.
People will stay when they feel more pleasure than pain by participating on the site.
And YES! Rewarding Interesting Content is absolutely capitalistic! Aulterism is to give without expecting returns. Capitalism would say building the site like a business is the correct course of action.
Great post! Thanks.
Without the content, the eyes cannot see. The value starts with the content. It's no secret; it's not like we have sit here wondering if the chicken came first, or was it the egg?
Eyes make content more valuable. There's no value in eyes alone.
In the two years I've been here, I've seen far too much neglect. Thousands of talented people producing their very best, wondering why so many fear embracing the local talent while they say things like, "We need big names."
Big names started at the bottom in this online entertainment world. Joe Rogan was already a celebrity; his podcast took a long time to gain traction. Alex Jones was a nobody and now he's notorious. Freakin' Justin Beiber started out singing on Youtube. I could name thousands more, but what's the point? The thing they all have in common was the fact they produced content on platforms that embraced 'local' talent. They weren't ignored by the eyes they worked in front of. Those eyes weren't snubbing the content producers with the hopes something 'better' would come along. The eyes made the content more valuable because they looked. They looked at virtual nobodies until they became somebodies, then continued to stare.
My blog started to take off awhile back. A lot of people loved seeing me take off. Then there's this crowd frowning upon it. "Why does he get something and I don't." Some folks won't even look at my blog if I earn something substantial. I get treated like a cheater, for no f'n reason. I've taken all kinds of flak for simply doing something I set out to do, and I'm not the only one; I read comments, I hear what people say behind our backs, out in the open.
Everywhere else, one must pay for valuable content. A long time ago, Metallica got all pissed off with Napster. Some people thought entertainment should be free and artists thought it wasn't fair to work for nothing. How many people here even remember downloading mp3's in the late 90's? I can. If you would have told me back then I could download music for free AND get paid for enjoying it, I would have laughed at you, called you a bullshitter. Now here we are. People could literally spend a few thousand today as a subscription to enjoy unlimited online content that pays them a return over the span of their lifetime. A fair system for both artists (content producers) and consumers. A free concert, and you walk out with more change in your pocket than you had when you arrived.
But since people can't seem to wrap their heads around why content is important, and how it generates billions upon billions of dollars and views annually, and why it's important to embrace the local talent, we might never see this place take off. Instead we can stick to a few people selling votes, pretending to be "promoters", so we can see the latest and greatest fucking Monkey Post nobody gives a shit about.
There's so much potential here. People simply don't understand the BUSINESS. Of course it's a business. This is the online entertainment industry. The artists hated the mp3's and leeching way back when, but over time they embraced the technology and found ways to make money using it. Now they make far more than they ever did and more of them earning as well. I'm a fucking artist, I see many others capable of producing quality content. I see a new business model and dammit I made it work! Imagine this place in five years. Nobodies that want to be somebodies.
I don't know why the hell I started this rant here. Most people don't even know what I'm trying to say half of the time.
Hope it makes you feel better, understood your full comment :)
The platform will become popular when there are unique talents (local talents), not really found elsewhere. However, as with most platforms, those who come first, reap the benefits. Sakimichan on Patreon, Shane Dawson on YT, being first and staying persistent matters. I think for those who come late, there needs to be more initiative, or multiple sources of income. 7 day payout for a post is not enough for those who make timeless posts. Also good old posts are still a pain to actually find, it's pure luck.
I guess the most painful part about Steemit is it's easy to get stuck at a specific rank and SP. A year later and got only 0.03$ vote to show for and I'm one of the lucky ones. I just can't recommend this to anyone, knowing the effort it took me to get here. I'm already too invested to simply quit. Annd off I am ranting..
Majority of my posts are timeless. We're allowed to recycle old material and remonetize it, within reason. For instance, once a month I'll put all of my recent artwork into one post and publish that has a highlight reel. I've republished two year old short humorous stories. I've probably done that three times. Nobody complains and chances are the people following today never saw that old work. I'll reformat it so it looks better than the original, produce a new cover. I've been thinking about possibly publishing three or more old classic posts into one 'greatest hits' style compilation post. There are ways to earn again, as long as it's within reason and not abusive spam.
Definitely :D I started reposting 3 months ago, my oldest content and people loved it, in fact! And I've encouraged others to try that as well, there are always posts that I miss even from Steemians who I follow regularly :) I haven't reposted anything lately as I've been doing Inktober and I try not to spam. Upgrading and updating an old post makes it fair and more interesting. I've also cut down unnecessary parts making posts easier to read.
I keep all of my posts' links and image previews in a word document, so it's really easy to find good old stuff ^^
Your content does matter that isn't what I am saying. I am saying people do not take dollars out of their pocket to reward content.
You are one of, if not my fav, content creator... But I wouldn't navigate to the site to view it. I navigate to the site, to invest and speculate on Crypto.
People spend billions on books, magazines, music, movies; they drop quarters in guitar cases. People reward content, daily. If this was Facebook, this conversation would be being rewarded, but the money that exists in this world goes to someone else, makes them rich.
So you walk up to the magazine rack and select the Crypto Column. That's the one you want to buy, but you'll flip through NoNames Show. Totally normal in this industry.
Excellent point.
No, thank you. :)
I totally agree with you. Thanks for the words of inspiration.
I think that, as things stand, the amount of Steem one would have to buy to have real influence is more than most people, or even a cooperating group of people, can afford or would like to risk.
ROI is about a penny for $500 bucks right now. ;) That's overly simplified but you get the point.
Very well articulated. I've made similar arguments in some of my previous posts and have postulated that much of the popularity surrounding the big social media sites is due in large part to recognition and feedback people receive for their participation. Indeed, I believe that Steemit's continued growth and success will depend largly on constructive engagement throughout all levels of the platform. I would even argue that for the everyday Steemian making money is just the icing on the cake. Just to make a quick analogy, look at the most popular and long-standing open source projects. What keeps the best talent around if monetary incentives are not a factor? Recognition and constructive engagement rule the day.