Presently, SteemIt is supported mostly by speculative investments. The platform has potential (Plus investors are in love with crypto), and they're emptying their pockets into Steem coin investments. Short-term this is great. Investors get their Cryptocurrency, the demand drives up the value, the users of the SteemIt platform benefit, and everyone is happy.
While some cryptos have value as a form of currency, the value of Steem is largely tied to speculation about the future of the SteemIt platform. Unfortunately speculative investments aren't a good long-term business model. Steem has no way of turning a profit (That I'm aware of) other than by getting investors to dump their money into it.
In order to remain competitive long-term in the social media space, SteemIt will need to come up with a revenue model that doesn't rely on continuous investments into cryptocurrencies. Whether that means more emphasis on paid promotion, or selling some adspace in those lovely white margins, SteemIt is eventually going to need to stand on its own two feet and generate some value for its currency that isn't tied directly to coin investments.
This will probably mean one of the above:
- Integrating "Promoted Posts" into users' regular feeds to increase exposure.
- Selling adspace in the page's sidebars, in article content, or in feeds.
If this makes you gag, you're not alone.
Part of the appeal of SteemIt is the non-cluttered, ad-free interface. But that UI is only possible because of the bullish cryptocurrency market. Once it cools down, SteemIt might have to make some compromises in order to keep bringing in money - And it's users may not be ready for that.
Thanks for reading,
-Matt