I finally got a few hours of sleep more than I normally get and it feels weird. I feel lazy. Since childhood I have felt that sleep takes away from life in some way, that while dreaming, I might miss out on something important even though not much of consequence is likely to happen in 8 hours.
Maybe this is compounded by the internet and global perspectives as in the past, nothing happened because everyone at the local level was asleep at the same time. Now, people are always awake somewhere, doing something worth hearing about.
I have read a couple of articles this morning about the large social sites shutting down accounts of political dissidents and Steem has been mentioned as a possible alternative. Of course it is but does becoming the home of social outcasts constitute mainstream adoption? I don't think so.
But, it is a step. Just like early adopters see opportunity in the technology, some are here because they have nowhere else to go. This trickle can turn into a flood rapidly the more people recognise that the centralized platforms that have promised to keep then up to date with the world only offer a narrow slice of what is actually going on.
What will really drive the mainstream flow is when people realise that what has been hidden from them isn't just information, it is the chance to actually benefit personally from adding to the conversation.
Many know that their interactions are being leveraged to create wealth. What they don't know is that they can be part of the profit sharing, that the value of their information can provide them an income. Steem simplifies this process, makes it transparent and easy for anyone to not only join conversations but tangibly reward and support interest areas directly.
Given development and distribution and centralized platforms have very little chance of keeping up as their economic models require masses of funding to be pulled into a tight point. They are upward value funnel models and any overflow is distributed by them, much like a government that collects taxes and uses it to fund what the public do not need or want.
Steem is on the cusp of discovery, it is just a matter of time until the right compound of events and needs form to cause a chain reaction drive into crypto and, into content platforms that sort it. We can see it aligning already in the economy, the media and society and once that critical junction is met, the flood gates open.
We don't need to force mainstreaming of Steem, we just need to build the tools that will be required and have a community ready when it happens.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
(posted from phone)