Today I was developing an elevator pitch that covers our approach and our training services we offer to be used internally and externally, and it got me thinking about Steem (just for a change) and the content I produce. I have talked about this many times before but with the changes the EIP has brought, people are again starting to evaluate content and inevitably their own. What is high value content for Steem?
Some people look at Trending and see a lot of Steem content there and believe that it is not what a new visitor should see, and while I do not think it is all they should see, I believe that having the best Steem has to offer whether it be Steem related or not is a benefit at this time.
I think that Steem's competitive advantage from a content perspective isn't to compete with other publishing platforms, it is to showcase the value of the Steem ecosystem a a whole as well as at granular levels. Steem is a general content delivery platform and competing at that level with the centralized and specialized platforms is for the communities and SMTs to handle in a centralized, specialized and uniquely tokenized way.
When a new user comes into Steem, they will inevitably land on the Trending page as they will likely move in through Steemit.com and that is the default. Rather than seeing shit up there (like it was until recently), they will find all kinds of Steem related content, interspersed with general level content they might find on other platforms. This way they can get a taste of the range, plus also get a view of what Steem is all about, encouraging and rewarding content creators of all kinds and mediums through investments made into consumption and return.
However, Steem of course needs outward facing content that can traverse the internet and mix it with the best of the rest too. But, it isn't good enough to just be outward facing, it has to be shareable and loop back into Steem in some way so that the general level content creates millions of potential funnels for new users to find Steem, no matter where it appears. Essentially, the Steem ecosystem has to start spreading its decentralized, diversified and immutable tentacles throughout the internet.
For me, I am a relatively decent content creator and can go well outside Steem content, but I do not see that as the area where I add the most value to the future of Steem. It isn't that I am not going to create non-Steem-related articles anymore, but because of my personal direction for Steem, I believe there is more value in being Steem, that imitating others for Steem. For the applications that are built and building on Steem as we speak, they *should' be imitating a fair bit and offering alternatives to "traditional" digital media as they themselves are funnels onto the Steem blockchain also.
When it comes to get the Steem word out there, part of the job of curation is to push content beyond the Steem boundaries and into the larger internet to get eyes on it and by proxy, onto Steem also. We have some great content producers who offer brilliant work that is very shareable, but that should also include the Steem content that encourages people to dig a little deeper into blockchain, immutability, censorship, tokenization, investment and ownership beyond, "I have heard of Bitcoin".
While many think that Steem content is valuable within Steem, but many more think that it is far too self-referential - the truth is that Steem-related content is much, much more valuable outside of Steem than it is in as it primes the audience and markets the Steem name and culture far beyond the borders of the small Steem community. It doesn't have to be in your face, it doesn't have to be shill - but there are a lot of Steem content posts that would create discussion off Steem and attract new users in to see what all the Steem was about.
Each brilliant Steem post whether self-referential or general level, has the ability to bring external eyes onto Steem, but only if external eyes get to see it. Each is a pitch of Steem about who we are, what we do, how we do it and perhaps most importantly, why we do it at all. This includes how much we care about Steem as a platform from many, many perspectives - whether as a contributor, investor, developer or consumer.
All four of the core pillars of people at Steem are content creators, whether an artist or photographer, a writer, a sportscaster, a news service, investment advisor or a Steem ecosystem thinker. And, the consumers are content creators because it is they who read, vote and share the content to a wider audience and in so doing, create more visibility, impressions and support for Steem and again by proxy, the content creators here.
We have a community, we have content, we have tokens, we have value, we are Steem.
Tell people.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
