The logo is from:
Greedy mainstream social media
Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram – there are many of them. Social platforms that you and I use every day, spend our time there, consume the content of other users and sometimes produce our own. However, all of them, except YouTube, have never paid a penny to the content producers, despite having profited a lot thanks to them. People used to take this fact for granted. But recent researches show that it cannot be that way forever. Unincentivized content producers get less and less active. Some of the most popular bloggers earn some money through direct product placement. But the barrier of entry for those kind of contracts is high and it is not enough. There was news that Facebook and Instagram (which, as you know, belongs to Facebook too) plan to start paying the content producers. However, I they have not started yet. The main problem here is that companies actually have your data and you have little control over it.
Decentralized social platforms
Blockchain technology, as a means for decentralized money transfer as well as data transfer looks to be a very attractive alternative to the giants that currently dominate the social media market. Rumors about decentralized social networks have been circulating among blockchain enthusiasts for quite some time. Although, I did not learn about the nuances, I am aware at least of one project trying to implement this idea – Synereo. But I have not heard that they have launched anything yet.
My story
I first found out about Steemit from http://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ It’s cryptocurrency, STEEM, suddenly appeared the 3rd largest by market cap, leaving behind Ripple. This attracted my attention. I Googled what it was and signed up for their service. Later I found out that the 15x rise in value was caused by the first time in history massive payout to the users of the platform for their content, which happened on July 4, 2016.
What Steemit is about
This is a real fact – Steemit is free to use and pays for your content. Steemit is just a web interface on top of a public blockchain, which is decentralized and is being maintained by independent individuals (miners). In fact, you can run your own node of the network and receive some payments for providing your disk storage and computational resources. The source code is open and available on GitHub: https://github.com/steemit/steem That means that there can be alternative user interfaces developed by third-party developers. I am aware of one, which is more developer-oriented rather than a comprehensive alternative: https://steemd.com/ But more and more software around the ecosystems is being developed. For example, this observer of the blockchain with real-time updates: http://steemstream.com/ was developed by an enthusiast and active Steemit user https://steemit.com/@roelandp who does not look like has a direct relationship with the core developers. Interestingly, his post https://steemit.com/steem/@roelandp/steemstream-com-a-realtime-visualisation-of-all-activity-on-steemit about his website has gathered more upvotes (likes) than anybody else’s on the platform so far. Even more impressive is the payoff in real money, which he managed to earn for the post – over $4,000. (Although, it is already not the absolute record on the platform. Some people managed to earn over $25,000 for a single post!)
My success story (has just begun)
I know this sounds too good to be true. But I, personally not being related to the platform by any means, managed to earn about $75 for 3 posts, one of which was my personal introduction and the other 2 were quite skeptical about the very website functioning:
- https://steemit.com/security/@sanbir/hi-my-dear-steemers-i-am-karina
- https://steemit.com/karina/@sanbir/to-all-the-adorers-of-karina-and-the-reporters-of-abuse
My advice to you
If you are a producer of great content (blogger, YouTuber, Intagrammer) and/or have large following, I hope I convinced you to give Steemit a shot. Remember, it’s totally free. No credit card, no sms, no driver license needed. And then decide for yourself. I warn you, it’s addictive, though.
Get connected
Steemit has no referral program I am aware of. However, if you joined Steemit after this introduction and earned some money, I would be happy if you check out my blog at https://steemit.com/@sanbir and upvote my posts. This way I receive a little money and you will be guaranteed not to lose anything and even have a chance to receive money too (if other people also like what you liked). Moreover, I will upvote one post of everyone who upvoted this post (which, in turn, will add some money to those people).