I could probably throttle the bastard friend who mentioned Decentium to me today (thanks, @metametheus, love you really) My FOMO button was pushed again and I pulled my fingers out of my ears from where I was saying 'la la la' anytime anyone mentioned any decentralised social media that wasn't Steem, because that would be traitorous, right?
Anyway, Decentium. Another decentralized 'publishing and tipping platform where authors own their content and earn money and exposure through endorsements'. Kinda like Medium? Maybe? And then there's Voice, and other platforms - am I going to spend half my life between all of these or am I just going to get clevererererer at it? Like, finally sort out my tabs?
But I can't resist. I click the link and get into a cursory reading. Sounds good, sign me up. Firstly, I create an account, which I had to pay for - no nice neat 'riverflows', which I have gotten used to now, but 'riverflowss1', which is far too messy for me. However, it was fairly painless - cost me about 7 bucks via Paypal.
Then I had to download 'Scatter' to my desktop and import my private key (which I've sent in encrypted mail to my email address, saved in Last Pass, and written in a notebook, because I am learnding). And I'm not going to make the same mistake I made when I got a Whaleshares account, promptly losing the keys, and having to become @riverflowing.
I'm not sure how to explain Scatter but I guess it's like a wallet where everything EOS related happens? IDK. I have to read more to find out to be able to explain it to anyone else. For now I'll just drop some random lines from their website:
Scatter connects you to blockchains in a simple and straightforward package. It is internationalized, sleek, and powerful. Every part is lovingly designed and crafted to meet your daily crypto needs. Manage your assets, exchange tokens, keep your keys safe with your Ledger, and play the best games.
Okay then. Doesn't make immediate sense, but I learn by doing, so let's do, I think.
I create a post on Decentrium and when I click publish, it automatically opens up Scatter to verify the block. Fine. So now I have to get my head around another system. I've only just started wrapping my head around Whaleshares again since their hardfork (their pods look awesome, by the way, but I'm still trying to figure out how they work, and I can't figure out the whole bitshares wallet thing or what wallet I'm meant to use after the fork) and to be honest, I have no idea how any layperson would figure any of this stuff out, let alone trust it. I trust it because I have a tiny inkling of how blockchain works. Most people have about a bazillionth of an inkling, which means they make the sign of the cross at you when you mention crypto, rudely change the subject or walk out of the room.
Heathens.
It's kinda nice - it's a fairly clean and neat interface, which I like. It makes me realise how complicated Steem can be. Maybe this is simpler? But then I think I'll publish two posts - and I can't. I can't find where I write a new post. Then I find the FAQ - which you can read here. That's all awesome - but kinda mumbo jumbo. Tech people have an annoying, annoying habit of explaining things in techspeak without realising that most ordinary folk need to read it twenty times to understand it. Simple analogies would be nice. If you're a tech person, you've probably stopped reading by now, thinking pfffft, she must be sooo dumbass not to get this stuff. Oh I will - eventually. But it's not intuitive.
They did have a very pointed explanation of how it's different to Steemit. Ouch.
Besides Decentium being a platform focused on journalists and writers where Steem is more of a Facebook with public feeds, it uses an inflation-based token. That inflation goes into a rewards pool that token holders distribute by voting for content. That model while it has seen some success also leads to a lot of contention, people looking for handouts and clever spammers trying to siphon off as much as possible from the rewards pool. Those costs are not immediately apparent to the users who ultimately have to shoulder them. Our model is simple: give money you earned doing something to people doing something else you like. Patreon has proven that this model is not only effective but what people actually want.
Fair enough. So, I endorse someone's post, and they might endorse mine? Cool. But for now, I can't endorse, as I don't have any EOS - not like Steem, where you're given a bit to start with or people might delegate you some and off you go. That's the fun part of Steem, too, the competitions where you can earn some steem, some whale floating by and giving you a boost, making friends who upvote you on a consistant basis. I know the reward pool isn't ideal and hell Steem has it's failings but I can post on it - whereas I can't post anything else on Decentrium it seems until someone endorses my post. Now I wish I'd pulled out my very best work and not the last thing I posted here on Steem. Nevermind.
And THEN I realise I actually have some EOS - I bought 50 bucks worth a few months back when I first heard of it - I'd just forgotten. Too many little coins, too many wallets. Anyway, I transferred some to Scatter - job done. I can now endorse posts I like. Cool. And I think I can write.
Hang on - now I'm confused. I can't write from my url - but if I click on the Natural Medicine url that @metametheus sent me (because he has created a Natural Medicine account there - see https://decentium.org/naturemedeos), then I get the 'write' thing show up. Lookie:
But see how it's not showing up on my url?
So, am I about to dive into ANOTHER discord to ask questions and sound like an idiot again trying to figure out what by all accounts should be simple? I can't figure other things as well:
- How do you find particular users, like friends you know are on there? Can't find a search button.
- How do you save articles you like?
- How much do I have to invest in EOS to really get going on this place?
Oh wait. I refreshed it. Now I see it - must have 'happened' when Scatter received the EOS from Coinspot. At least I think that's what happened. Fabulous. I'm good to go.
As usual, by the time I write out a post about it, I've kinda figured it out. Language is how my brain works - if I write down my questions, I've usually got them answered by the time I click 'enter', or if not, shortly thereafter.