This post is an experiment. I am throwing 5 SBD promotion dollars at this post to see if the Promoted Feature will reap any recognition or rewards (or at least some good conversation). I also am focusing on the trending topic "Promoted".
In this discussion, I am not providing solutions or even ideas to Steemit, I am merely opening a discussion about observations I am making. I can voice my opinions as I am a dedicated Steemit user. I have been posting once or twice a day for about five weeks now, and have been experimenting with times and lengths and quality and content of posts. Point in case: I am a participating member and not just a newbie trying to catch some Steem bucks (well, that would be nice, I would not complain If I did!)
Steem Promoted Feature Pros and Cons:
Pros: There is a TON of Steem in circulation, and the Promoted Feature will get users to spend Steem as opposed to cashing it out into Bitcoin. Taking more Steem out of circulation may cause the value of Steem to rise or at least stay stable. Simple. It could be a good way to gobble up the plethora of Steem being created and sold.
It could also be effective as an attention grabber of whales IF they decide to look there for fresh content.
Cons: Will the Promoted section be another smattering of posts that users throw a few Steem bucks at and hope their arrow hits the bullseye? Or will it actually be an effective means of getting some real Steem recognition? I can see the Promoted section being completely overran within a matter of days, especially if the price of Steem stays lower.
How do the metrics work? I am assuming posts that show on the Promoted section are in ranking of how many SBD are thrown at it. So will it be flooded by users only applying a penny towards promotion?
Will users be turned off at upvoting Promoted content? Unsure about this one. How about whales?
I think eventually (or not so eventually) Promoted will be pretty much just another category.
A Perspective: Steemit is comprised of a sea of posts. Think about it as each post being in a stack of papers, this stack of papers would be HUGE. Thousands and thousands of papers piled on top of one another, with the newest ones being on the top and the oldest being on the bottom. The categories at least give a little order into what stack your post lands. The Promoted feature is just one more stack of papers that will eventually pile up into oblivion. There could be extremely valuable content on any one of these papers! But how do we manage to find these treasures among piles and piles of pieces of paper?? I do not have the answer. I am just an observer.
Right place. Right time. That is kind of my Steemit motto.
Obviously, this is all one grand beta experiment. Who knows where this platform will be in 6 months, 1 year, or even a week from now.