Remember Google Plus?
Yeah, didn't think so. After the removal of the 'author' snippet behind your name in Google results, the place died out pretty quick. Its only purpose was its reward and they killed it.
Was it ever alive? Maybe, but definitely not sentient. My biggest struggle was the lack of authenticity. There was no genuine discussion. People were just looking to increase their circle following, which in turn had a positive impact on one's personal Google results.
In my view, successful social media have two balanced out ingredients. A pizza base that's not all tomato sauce and no toppings. What are these ingredients? A reward system and a unique purpose. And these can come in many shapes and forms.
A reward system is easy, it is whatever a user can accumulate to add to his/her status. Twitter has followers, Youtube has subscribers, Google Plus had Circles, Facebook has friends/likes, Reddit has karma, Steemit has SP and SBD.
But that alone won't suffice. A second ingredient is needed. After all, not everyone profits equally from the reward systems. Much like in real life, social media are also subject to the '1% having all the wealth' while the 99% are struggling to make ends meet. If you want an example of 'our' 1%, go to Steemit's trending page. Why do the 99% still persist? Because they have a purpose. The unique purpose of a social media platform keeps them interested if they're not able to capitalise (as much) on the reward system. And let me tell you, the 99%, and NOT the 1%, is what makes or breaks a social media platform. So you'd do well to keep them with you. Hence why I think that long-term, whale focus on a select few individuals will be extremely detrimental. More on that later.
Youtube's unique purpose is easy. View whatever video you want. Looking for that 80's theme song to that show you used to watch? Check. Playthroughs of your favourite videogame? Check. Youtube is also the ideal platform to foster a 'celebrity' cult. It is the perfect sensory combination. You see and listen to people that you like, while being enchanted by that endearing illusion that they're oh so close to you. The odds are much higher that PewDiePie will read your comment than Tom Cruise reading your mail-sent fan letter.
Facebook? The perfect, intuitive display window into your own life. And let's not forget about your crush's bikini (or men's thong) pictures during summer. Sometimes it's not rocket science. 'Friends' and 'likes' make for great status enhancers and people love a glimpse into someone else's life as long as it's not cumbersome.
Reddit's unique purpose is easy. It's genuine, intuitive discussion. Why is it genuine? Because it has evolved in such a way that personal status is less important. Sure, farming comment karma is nice, but people are mostly incentivised by their interest for whatever topic is under discussion than anything wealth-boosting. Why? Because it's still rather anonymous and there's an /r/ for nearly every topic.
Google Plus had no unique purpose. Discussions were not genuine. Hence its death after the killing blow to its reward system. Why would anyone stay? The only reason it still has such a relatively high 'usage' rank among teenagers and others is because of its forced integration with Youtube.
Twitter is a tough one. I feel it became too much of a status-amassing gimmick while lacking a strong purpose. Other platforms are simply doing it better if you want to broadcast short messages. Snapchat, like Youtube, has better sensory stimulation. What's more, there is too strong an emphasis on how many followers one has and the only lifeline it seems to have is that it's a fast way to catch up with the announcements of your favourite people (until they all move elsewhere).
That brings me to Steemit. As I write this, I'm not sure about how much of a coherent piece this has become, but I'm pretty sure that with all the above, you'll have done some thinking of your own and you've given Steemit a rating based on the balance between 'reward and purpose'.
If you're being very honest with yourself, that rating shouldn't be very high.
Steemit prides itself on its reward system and as we've gauged from examples like Google Plus and to a lesser degree, Twitter, that's a big no-no. We know that in order to really benefit from a platform's reward system, you have to aim for that 1%. But that's out of your control. Whales determine your success.
The 99% doesn't like their destiny being decided for them. The question is then if Steemit provides a unique purpose. And that's the crux. I don't think it does. As a platform for discussion / written content, it leaves a lot to be desired. It has to do SOMETHING better than other platforms.
- The categories are not intuitive. Compare this to Reddit, much more user-friendly to find what you want.
- The content struggles to be genuine / authentic. There is little to no genuine discussion, people are just looking to increase their steem power, which in turn has a positive impact on their bank account (read the beginning of this post and see what I did here).
- Today's makers or breakers (teenagers, not backpacking people in their 30s) have moved past reading long and cumbersome blog posts. Just look at the trend. It's Snapchat, not Twitter. It's vlogs, not blogs. It has to be easier to digest. Everything has to be shorter and concise. Everything shorter and concise. Evrtng shrter nd cnsise. ESAC.
Just because we have trending $3.000,00 posts on the front page, doesn't mean people have actually read and enjoyed them. Three whales are what it takes to catapult a post, which in turn sparks dozens of other users wanting to capitalise on the possible payout with an upvote or comment. All of this can be done (and IS done) without reading past the first paragraph. It will never prove that people are GENUINELY (there's that word again) interested in reading the content. Any influx of people is theremore more likely to be based on Steemit's reward system, they get dissappointed, realise there's no other reason to hang around, and this place will gradually become a barren wasteland.
There are better alternatives out there for the 99%.
Sadly.