I am a developer from Sweden and currently living in Chicago where I am working at a large finance company. I have been playing with a platform concept in Ruby on Rails that creates rich media galleries where content creators such as YouTubers can get tips and comments on their creations. All my favorite YouTubers started making videos of how their ad revenue was drastically reduced so I wanted to add a monetization layer for them.
I have used this platform to get into cryptocurrencies and learn how to sign and process transactions etc. I had completed the MVP using PayPal as a payment gateway to deposit and withdraw funds to user accounts, only to discover that it didn't really work out with their fees, even with the micro transactions option they offer. So, I removed all their API code and started learning about BlockCypher API for Bitcoin, which gave me an excuse to learn how to do transactions with the blockchain.
After setting that up and getting ready to use their micro transactions API, I saw a new message on their docs page saying that the micro transactions API had been discontinued due to increasing transaction fees. I was bummed out and thinking I should give the other API they offer for Ethereum a chance as their fees are less than 1/10 of Bitcoins currently. I am currently in the process of figuring out how to convert all my API calls to use this beta REST API now and don't feel too excited anymore about the endless rewriting of my backend, and even with lower fees I still can't do direct transactions user to user with small amounts.
I was watching the EOS presentation today on YouTube and it sounds like the solution to all my micro transaction issues I am having where high fees are becoming a big problem and the network delays causing me to have to keep track of tips and payments that have not been finalized yet. The problem with EOS however is that it has not launched yet! I learned that Steem has many of the qualities of EOS though, so it sounds like it could work for my platform as well.
I focused on the visual aspect of showing off existing online media and to be able to monetize it by linking and viewing it through my platform. It uses a scrollable gallery that was designed for mobile first but looks great on a large monitor with lots of content. It is just an MVP currently so the UI is lacking in some features such as categories, favorites, subscriptions etc. It can auto-import all your YouTube videos into your gallery and monetizes them automatically with a tip button and separate comment section.
I know the Steemit social media platform sounds similar in functionality to my gallery except for how it looks and that my platform mainly adds a visual monetization layer to existing content, so I have two questions for the Steemit community:
- Should I implement a Steem API on my platform to handle micro transactions for tipping small amounts to other users ?
- Is this still useful next to Steemit as a more visual platform with no article creation directly in the platform (you can link to articles and media and upload images/videos/files) ?
It's not ready yet and will be 100% free to use, so I'll just add some images to get you an idea of how my platform works.
I appreciate your feedback, and would love to be a participating member of your community.