There's a lot of talk about steemit being a revolutionary social network and how it could change everything. I totally agree. But we need to work towards that, it won't JUST happen.
But it WILL happen. Here's how:
We see more and more how the difference in steem power creates a big disadvantage for new accounts and huge advantage for whales. If you don't know what we call whales, check this out
In many ways, the society here, as seen in the distribution resembles a lot the world a large, the 1%[holders of a lot of SP] have control of most of the wealth and the rest hope to make some good posts and get some of that wealth. But it's difficult to do that without the support of someone with a lot of SP.
Whoa! But this is BAD! We need an "occuppy steemit"
Just kidding, NO, please NO!
This could be bad if it goes awry, yes, but it could also be GREAT and in my opinion, necessary.
If the whales/the mega power users have a very democratic and fair steemit in mind, they could make it happen. If they upvote according to their preferences and they curate with heart, anything can happen. The good posts will rise to the top, always. Content and community will win!
Why is this hard to achieve?
For a couple of reasons, in my opinion.
One is that it is very difficult for 30-50 persons to be always online and curate. It takes a lot of time and most of these people are busy [ this imagine how a day in life of
or
looks like, especially these days]. So curating will be too time-consuming for most of them which might lead to laziness and upvoting just because. This will create posts of uneven quality in the long run.
Another is that power corrupts. There is this saying but it's true. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, no matter how hard you think it won't apply to you.
Why are so many politicians corrupt? Why are so many 1% greedy?
People don't like to "lose". It hurt us more to lose 100$ than it bring us joy to win 100$. And having power is sweet. Giving power away might feel a bit like "losing".
That's why usually people form groups that protect their own interest and FUCK the rest. We need to prevent this from happening here. That's the real revolution, in my opinion.
Good news here is that it doesn't cost anything to upvote a good post!
So we will see a lot of upvoted good posts.
We must see a lot of upvoted good post.
One can only hope that there are enough whales, with different preferences and interest that will lead to all kind of good posts being upvoted and different kind of content rearing to the surface. The diversity will help steemit flourish. Will make some users richer and their curating powers will grow. And they can work the magic further...
The more upvoted posts the more SP to new users and good content creators, the more the the power will normalize towards a democracy of sorts. This will take time and we need to be patient.
The interesting this is that this is a circle that never ends --> small fish becomes bigger fish and so on and now the big responsability of curation is on THEM. They got there because the whales and dolphins took time and curated/recognized the value of THEIR content and they have a moral obligation to do the same. Will they?
The second generation whales cand make or break steemit. This generation might be us. Let's not forget the lessons.
Which brings me back to my main point: one way or another, the first whales will create some new superusers and if they do it thoughtfully and with care they will set a precedent and they will show the way towards a great steemit.
If the whales act or are perceived as being corrupt, the new whales will follow through.
We see that in corrupt societies that hope the new generation of politicians will be different. THEY AREN'T
[ i'm romanian and every ex-communism country resident can agree with me ].
It's a fucking immense responsibility. But it is one they put in place with the voting system and the SP.
An open message to the whales: "PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH! "
The whales will take us there if they want to. I see the steemit today as just a stepping stone to the steemit most people envision. If that system will prove out to be better, remains to be seen [ democracy is wack sometimes...] but for now, it's the best we can do.
I am very optimist that this will happen. Nobody at the top proved so far that they are not interested in seeing a change in the right direction happen and happen fast. And I believe that in hindsight we'll see that this kind of system with good/wise users having a lot of power to influence the direction is the way for the community to reach its potential.
We don't want just another reddit, don't we? :D
What's your take on this, do you think this is the way steemit will evolve? What can lower SP users do to help? Let's talk.
PS: a very good posts that doesn't agree with anything I just wrote, in case you want a different take on this --> HERE