Facebook Invests Millions in Community Leaders - What Steemit Inc Should Learn From This

Who cares more about the community, wine with Facebook execs, and why Hive account@ned should learn a thing or two from Mark Zuckerberg

(Source: https://steemit.com/funny/@mynameisbrian/ned-scott-vs-mark-zuckerberg)

About a year ago I was working for a startup that got an invitation to an FBStart event in Tel-Aviv. It was a Facebook event, but one with a very specific audience - developers. That didn't stop me from (drinking two glasses of wine and) chewing off the ear of a Facebook exec about the need for community moderation to replace automated and very bad censorship mechanisms, as well as better tools for community management and groups. Said exec listened and nodded.

Last week, Facebook announced that it will be awarding up to $1 million to five community leaders and $50,000 to 100 more. The goal, according to the company blog, is "to empower leaders from around the world who are building communities through the Facebook family of apps and services". In addition, the company plans to invest more in hiring additional humans to manage community guideline violations and prevent abuse of the platform. Supposedly.

Community First?

At this point, Facebook is focusing on Facebook Groups and their admins. Facebook claims the goal is to empower leaders, but it's not secret that one of the goals is to divert attention from bad publicity the company has been getting lately. But isn't just that. Community managers are assets to social platforms, and Facebook understands that.

I am not surprised that Facebook is targeting group admins as I myself currently limit my use of Facebook to the Israeli Steemit group I admin there, as well as chat with friends and family. Many community leaders are doing just that, and it's a hard job that takes up time. Time is money and Facebook understands that, which is why they're offering monetary incentives in addition to tools to the community leaders on the platform.

What Steemit Inc Should Be Doing

Unlike Mark Zuckerberg, Hive account@ned doesn't have a big pool of cash in his house (I am assuming, correct me if I am wrong). He doesn't need to. I don't know the math, and don't care much about politics, nor do I believe that waiting for SMTs is a good reason to ignore an obvious problem with the power distribution on the platform and abuse of said power. I am not the first to say that, nor am I the last. 

With the vast majority of the stake in the platform in the hands of a small percentage of users or one side, and plankton users encountering bandwidth limitations - Steemit Inc should be doing SOMETHING.

If Facebook can throw millions of dollars at community leaders, why can't Steemit Inc and Hive account@ned do the same thing with power delegations? Are they using them for something else?

Community leaders on the platform are not hard to spot - look for dolphins and minnows guiding others onto the platform, encouraging good content creator and curating a lot. These people are the main reason for the growth of the website's user base (and retention) at this point. 

(Steemit Community Leader in Actions)

Facebook vs Steemit

I fully expect (yet another) argument on the merits of steemit as a truly decentralized and democratic platform that rewards authors instead of selling its users to advertisers. There's no doubt steemit has the advantage over Facebook in that field. But when I see Facebook dedicating budgets to community development, while the founders of steemit inc bicker in comments on the blockchain? I feel embarrassed to admit that there's a lot Hive account@ned needs to learn from Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to strategic empowerment of the most valuable asset a social platform has - its users.

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