Each day we spend countless hours on social media trying to amass more “internet points.” It has become an obsession for many. There are many reasons why these internet points are so attractive to people.
All of the social networks out there measure, at least to some extent, the level of popularity, reach, or ‘effect’ that each of our interactions has with our online community. Twitter has its “this person Retweeted your Tweet to X amount of people!”. Facebook has likes, comments, and shares. Instagram and LinkedIn both also have likes and comments. Even Reddit, the holiest of social networks, has karma points for each user. But why? What for? Is a social network that fails to do this not a ‘social’ network? Would such a social network fail? How important are ‘likes’ and whatnot to our actual self-esteem? Do we value these electronic forms of pseudo-kudos and online popularity the same way we value real-life interactions? So many questions…
Further read this source for more info on the psychological affects
Another great source exploring the power of the like
Why are people so attached to a number next to a heart or internet “Karma”?
Some people wants them because they feel “popular” if they have more than their friends. They feel special and accomplished. It also affects people negatively, thinking they are not as good as someone with more of these points. I know people go as far as buying likes, hearts, retweets and followers to create some sort of illusion. And while there are some legitimate reasons for theses illegitimate users/likes ( possibly SEO and mob/crowd psychology ), that is mostly for businesses that want people to think 100,000 people like their garbage.
shameless Silicon Valley plug
How does this system change when monetary value is added?
While there are already a handful of services looking to pay users for engaging and creating content, Steemit does it in a way where top users (people around here tend to refer to them as “whales”) have a vested interest in the success of the platform. It is also so revolutionary because of it’s blockchain base and use of the cryptographic Steem token, which is awarded to users when other users upvote their posted content. These tokens have monetary value, currently around $3.40.
How will this change user activity?
One problem the platform must overcome is spam and reposts from other websites. Reposts are a phenomena experienced heavily on traditional non-monetary social networks such as Reddit. A recent post by Cryptoctopus aims find a solution to combat such posts.
Those who don't steal will become motivated content creatorsI believe that Steemit will enable a new microcosm of content creators. The key to this success is reinvestment in the platform, reinvestment in better content, and ultimate growth of the platforms reach.For example, today the established stars of youtube have full on production budgets to ensure their content is up to par for their millions of viewers. They got there from reinvesting their ad revenue into their productions. I can see this platform growing with it’s top content creators giving them the needed capital to reinvest, making themselves better and ultimately growing Steemit.