Honey Boo Boo
CryptoKitties
Pokemon
It is hard to predict what will capture the interest of the public. The strangest things go viral or become popular. Forecasting the tastes of the general public is difficult at best; impossible at worst.
We are entering an age where creativity should explode. Blockchain is providing a forum where developers are free to create whatever they desire. Unlike a centralized system where one has to conform to the parameters outlined by an employer, here people can develop an application and hang it on the blockchain without seeking permission.
It is the community that uses the applications who determine the amount of success it has. If nobody uses it, the project is killed.
At present, there seems to be a lot of jockeying to market different blockchains. Those that get recognition have tokens that shoot up the rankings on coinmarketcap.com. This bodes well for the token hodlers although it might be rather short lived.
One criticism that the Steemit people received is they are rather poor at marketing STEEM. Actually, we don't even know if they are poor at it since they do not do it. Their marketing plan appears to be non-existent. This is upsetting to users who want to see the growth of the blockchain with more sign ups.
But is that really growth?
I will agree there are some cool applications on this blockchain that could be of interest to millions of people. That said, I do not believe there is enough on here to make STEEM a top 10 token. All the marketing in the world is not going to change that.
There is one thing, however, which can alter that path. That is development. As was the case with the three items I mentioned in the beginning, one idea that catches on can attract the attention of tens of millions of people. A single individual creating something that penetrates the public consciousness can, instantly, generate that kind of publicity.
The development team is framing the STEEM blockchain as the "Blockchain of Opportunity". I think this is very wise. Providing a platform that is attractive to developers is what is going to separate STEEM from the rest.
There was great fanfare on here about hitting 1M users. While this is a nice milestone, it is not really an important number. At this point it time, I feel it more important to go from about 350 applications to 500. That is a bigger milestone.
We need to keep in mind how finicky users can be. For the most part, they lack dedication. Thus, the growth in the user base, especially now, is not worth a great deal.
Developers are different. They are not apt to jump from one place to another. Learning the code is too time consuming. When one has nothing invested in a blockchain, like a user, leaving is easy.
Yet if a person spends hours learning to code on STEEM, the likelihood of that person moving to ETH or BTC to create applications is not likely. That person's knowledge base suddenly is STEEM focused.
This is akin to having a town full of transient people who own nothing versus the business owners. Those who are investing time and money into a community are the ones who determine the growth of said area. The transients end up moving on for the most part.
The Blockchain of Opportunity is developer focused. A great deal of what the development team is working on is to make life easier for developers. There are going to be millions of people who know coding yet are unfamiliar with blockchain entering this realm in the next couple years. These people are, essentially, starting from scratch.
This is why I agree with the approach of catering to them. Forget the mass marketing to the masses. One application that strikes the chord of the general public will do more marketing than 10,000 blockchain business plans. I mean honestly, who foresaw the success of Honey Boo Boo?
The challenge is we have no idea what is going to interest the masses. Ultimately, it is the applications that are going to drive a blockchain. That is the growth mechanism. Sign ups on social media, even if legitimate, can mean little. It is like email addresses. How many do each of us have? I bet the average person signed up for at least 5 over the years. How many are used?
D.Tube is a wonderful application to have on the STEEM blockchain. It has the ability to attract millions of people. That said, I would prefer that we have 10 more D.Tubes built rather than another 500K users sign up. The long-term impact will be much greater with the former.
The entire blockchain world is at a stage where development is crucial. We are not going to see the next step taken without it.
Of course, all the development in the world means little unless a blockchain can scale. This is another area that the development team is focusing their attention, much to the dismay of a large percentage of the user base. Taking the time now, in my opinion, to scale is preferred to ignoring it until it is needed. The last thing that anyone wants is a repeat of Ethereum.
Think of it in layers. The blockchain is at the bottom with the user on top. In between, we need applications. While the blockchain is sound, some improvements in a lot of the back end stuff is required. That is being done. Then, when looking at the next layer, a thriving development base will only create a large user base.
It becomes a numbers game. The chance of finding the next CryptoKitty increases as more is developed.
I look forward to the celebration for 500, then 1000, applications on the STEEM blockchain.
That is the growth I want to see.
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