I think that when everyone joins Steemit they are blown away dreaming of the potential about the future of the platform. I certainly feel this way, having only been on Steemit for a month and a half. But it seems that I am reading more and more negativity about Steemit everyday....or maybe I just never noticed the negative posts before?
In the beginning I only read posts that had very optimistic views about Steemit and it's potential to change social media. I am not sure if I purposely skipped past the negative ones, trying to keep myself motivated to continue on here considering how much work it will be to gain a following and earn anything.
I have to imagine that since the beginning of Steemit 2 years ago that people have been doubtful about it's future and the possibility of mass adoption. The whales that you see now felt like it was worth it to stay, even though we are in the middle of a correction, falling significantly from the ATH's. They stayed when Steem dropped to 8 cents a piece. Now, because of the risks they took they are able to reap the rewards.
Since I started here I have kicked myself everyday because I didn't research Steem sooner. I have been trying to learn as much as I can about crypto since September 2017, and yet I only joined here a month and a half ago. But I have to wonder, if I was one of the people that bought Steem for 8 cents, would I be so optimistic about the future of Steemit? I am not sure.
I can understand why some people are pessimistic. Who had anything to gain from Facebook's success? The people who own Facebook, of course. Who has everything to gain if Steemit becomes mass adopted? All of us. The people that have hundreds of thousands of dollars of Steem Power locked away, unable to easily withdraw worry about the future of this platform because their personal financial futures are tied to it.
You might be a plankton (like me) or a minnow right now, but if Steemit's popularity grows exponentially...we will all be far ahead of the new comers. I know its hard to imagine, but people would look at us the way we look at dolphins/whales. They will be day dreaming about what it would have been like to join when we did. It's funny to think about that now, because I currently consider myself the lowest of the low in the Steemit ecosystem. I might as well be alge, floating along with no real impact.
Imagine if the tiny amount of Steem Power you have was worth 20 times what it was now, and you saw abuse of the system, garbage content on trending, and new users letting their accounts go inactive. (How many dead accounts are there? It seems to me like while there may be 700K registered accounts, only 70K are active.) If my account was worth 20 times what it is now, I might start being more concerned with those numbers.
Alas, my account is not worth 20x. I have bought as much STEEM as I can afford, but I am no where near reaching any kind of social status here on Steemit. I am spending my time here, and my money here because I do believe in the vision Steemit has set out, I have talked to some really nice people and I want to make a bet on that future. But the longer I stay, I worry that the more negativity I read will start to tarnish the glowing optimism I have about all of this.
But what else could I expect from an ecosystem that runs on cryptocurrency? Is it possible that the negative news cycle, the fud, and the despair that is the markets right now has an direct influence on all of our attitudes about Steemit? If we were to enter another bull run tomorrow, would the majority of posts turn positive?
I raised this question before and people disagreed with me that the state of the crypto market doesn't correlate with sentiment on Steemit, but I still think it does.
How can we expect people to join a social media website running on cryptocurrency when the general population's view about cryptocurrency is currently negative?
If you don't believe me, go and ask a friend that has NO idea about crypto. Tell them about Steemit but leave out the cryptocurrency part. Tell them that you made "$XX.XX" amount of money on a post and watch their eyes go wide with interest. Then tell them that you get paid in crypto and watch the disinterest set in.
But that is crypto! We are all here because we don't look at things the way they currently are, we look into the future and imagine the way the world might be. We seem like crazy people to the "non-coiners." Have you ever watched Ancient Aliens? Yeah, that's pretty similar to how people view us when we talk about how "Crypto is going to change the world!" It was the same way when electricity was invented, it was the same way when cars were invented.
I don't know what changes will be made to Steemit in the future. I honestly don't know what changes would need to be made here to make it more lucrative for everyone involved. I leave that up to the more technologically advanced Steemians who obviously know more than I do about development. I hope they make the right decisions.
And when we enter another bull run, whether it will be tomorrow, a week from now, or several months from now, I hope that we can encourage the masses that join here. They will need it, and we will need them too. We need them to be hopeful so that they tell their friends to join Steemit, that is the only way we all succeed.
But currently for me, the little plankton I am...I'll just keep floating along, hopeful about the future of Steemit and crypto in general, hoping one day I will become a minnow.
Emily
So do the negative posts about Steemit discourage you from participating on Steemit? Has it gotten more negative since you joined? Do you think that the "mood" of Steemit is influenced by the state of the entire crypto market? I am looking forward to connecting with you in the comments below! Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it! Steem on!