(All Images From This Post Are From Pixabay.com. Elementor Banner is only exception).
Hi all! I usually post art pieces on Steemit, and of course, will again soon. But, till then, I thought I'd write a little post indicating what I would like to see in the future for Steemit, and maybe suggest a few easy fixes to help boost new accounts and make the platform more enjoyable for the masses.
I've been on Steemit since March, 2019, and have made some great strides on the platform; as well as, made some good friends while I worked to create good posts and build a place for myself on the blockchain. I'm on Steemit or Steempeak just about every day, taking advantage of upvoting, commenting, and yes, at times, using the bots to get my work seen. Admittedly, it's not that easy for a new person to be found on Steemit. You have to work hard, write well, post often, and search for like minded groups and individuals. A big help to me were communities like the Welcome Wagon, and other Steemit users like Dreemsteem, Shadowspub, bluefinstudios, novacadian and many others, who reached out and helped boost me up when they didn't have to. They actually cared about creating a community and bringing in the wayward minnows under their wings in an attempt to help.
Along the way, I read a lot of articles on what was wrong with Steemit, what had to change, what people wanted to see, how new people were lost and frustrated, how bots were killing the system, how the interface needed work, and on and on..... Some of the arguments had valid points, others were out and out rants, but all had a hint of truth. There are some changes that should be looked into.... and here are a few I think, coming from a design perspective, could be implemented relatively quickly,... settling a lot of troubled areas while helping to grow the platform into the social network it should be. (In my opinion, that is). Here we go!
Design:
One of the main focus points I found over and over in complaints was the design of the social media site. Now, Steempeak and Portico, in my opinion, have made some real strides in how the content is shown and delivered. I use Steempeak everyday to check my account and post because of the editor being a bit better, and I like all the info it shows the user, like notifications of activity, follower manager, personal feeds, cleaner and more complete wallet representation, better image slides for your posts, and more. But for the normal everyday person that never looked at steemit before, its hard to find what you want or are interested in. It takes time to explore, and most people hate taking time to do anything. If it's not there when they open a web page, they leave instantly.
Now, Steempeak does have keywords, topics of interest, and other options to find things....... But what about a simple menu???
For example:
Heading could read:
What Inspires You?
Art Photography Video Music Fitness Sports Entertainment Gaming Self-Help Communities Tribes Charities Events Steem News
From these you have dropdown menus to all the different types, such as under Art, you would have things like drawing, painting, digital art, gaming art, crafts, sculpting, and so on. Once clicked, you go to the section to see the posts related to the section through the post's keyword. These sections could also have artists allowed to sell their goods through Esty, Displate and others through a catalog link per post, like a bottom or side ad.
BUT, here is the kicker.....
The biggest number one complaint:
Minnows are becoming lost, their material isn't being seen, they are LEAVING! Yup,... that happens in a trickle down economy. No matter what your economics teacher says, the trickle down economy used by most nations is the reason behind economic collapse. Theory is, (that industrialists and rich government officials would like you to believe), give all the tax breaks and money to the corporations, rich and powerful, and that money will be used to buy assets and goods that in turn employ the poor and middle class which in turn provides the income for the circle to be completed. Well,... the corporations and rich pay very few if any taxes in a lot of cases due to breaks given, They already have all the shit they want, so they don't buy, and the money they do have goes off shore in investments and hides from the government. The poor can't pay any more tax or they can't survive. And, the middle class gets to take up the slack..... Course, the middle class has become almost non-existent, soooo, CRASH! A trickle up economy would help everyone. Give the poor the breaks and money,... they will buy stuff made by the corporations and sold by the rich and help employ the workers who become middle class with a better chance for all to benefit in the long term. Here's why we don't do that...... the word is long term. No one wants to wait for a payoff, they want it now! Why did I go on this rant? Because the model also works here.
Without Minnows and new people joining the blockchain, the investment breaks down. Curators can't curate when people don't post. Steem cannot increase in value if people don't invest. You need to take care of the new to insure healthy ecosystem for all. That means not burying Minnow posts in a sea of paid ads, or what have you. Well, how do you do this? I think anyone interested in this concept should have a look at what DAZ3D.com does for their selling artists.
On DAZ3D.com, it doesn't matter if you've been selling there for years, or brand new, all products are posted on the first page for at least a week and only lose ground according to the buys or likes, becoming less popular sends you down the page over time. However, for 2 weeks or a month, they have an image slider of these products that cycle through so that people can see what is new on the site without effort, as well as an email campaign that goes out to buyers with the new goods and suggested, "we think you will like this" ads. What if under those categories I came up with above, a slider cycled through all new posts regardless of payout for 2 weeks to 1 month after posting, while the best ones organized themselves according to popularity? After 7 days they don't get paid, but they are still getting the opportunity to be found.
What About SHIT Posts?
Yeah.... you should have to work for your money. Two things can eliminate these. One, set posting options to a needed word count before a post can be made or voted on by a bot. 240-400 words perhaps. At least explain the image you posted, that sort of thing. Two, create a twitter type of DAPP, call it Stweem. Only for short posts and image shares which can be sent out to friends or the whole blockchain while allowing bots to vote on them within that category only. Share with friends and whatnot like an instagram/twitter highbred.
Games!
Steem Monsters has shown us all what can be done, how many new people can be brought in, and how whole markets can form around games. Love to see more graphics and battles actually taking place on screen like on other video game card games, but as a start, awesome! Steem needs more! Not gambling games, but actual fun games. Can't anyone contact candy crush creators, angry birds creators, or other game companies and offer to host their games on Steem and offer perks not found on other systems? Maybe even allow for a percentage of points, or in game currency, to be sent to the users account as Steem or tradable token for playing? Why invent the wheel, when you can go to the tire shop and pick one up?
Better Posting Tools:
Not gonna say much about this other than will someone please contact Elementor for Word Press and have them work with you on a new drag and drop page creator for our posts? Pleeeeaaasssseeee? Bloggers want their posts to be outstanding. Give them a reason to share their work with all their communities. Give them Elementor or something similar.
Affiliate Programs:
What about some free coin or tokens for getting people to join, and some start up for the joiner? Maybe there is something in place, but I haven't found it. Also,.... whatever happened to advertising? I never see anything about Steem unless I search for Steem. What if I'm not searching for Steem????
Powered Up Steem:
Lastly, the 13 week cool down for anyone to get their powered up Steem back to liquid form in order to use it. I don't pretend to understand the need for this, or the logic behind it. Nor the blockchain's requirements that may break without it. However, I do know this. Crypto is very volatile and scary for regular folks not use to investing. They know very well that in 13 weeks, their hard earned income could be worthless, therefore powering up large amounts is too risky. However, the power ups are essential to help increase the Steem value. Even Whales would most likely want their large investments fluid enough to allow a little comfort in the market. If the 13 weeks was reduced to 13 days, more Steem would be powered up and not hoarded. Not only that, but a more fluid nature to the Steem echo-system and markets allows for more trade, sales, and investment options.
Well,... that's all I have for today. I hope at least a few of the ideas here are considered. I really like Steem and all its DAPPS. We just need to make a few changes, many not hard or long term at all, in order to assure its longevity. What do you think?
Have a great day!