YouTube vs. Dtube - Why Steem Has a Hard Time Attracting and Retaining Quality Content Creators
Hi Friends!
Mass adoption is a topic of interest in really any crypto sphere - but especially here on Steem as social based dapps such as @dtube, @appics, @partiko, @steemmonsters etc. are seen as the way we will tap into more of that "normal, everyday user" market.
One of the issues we have seen here on the Steem blockchain though, is not only attracting new, quality users - but retaining them as well.
The DAPP I am going to use in this video as an example is @dtube, since as a video content creator - that is the sphere I am most knowledgeable in.
One of the trends I've seen between Dtube and Youtube - is a massive difference in expectations between the two platforms. On Youtube - creators understand that it will take a LOT of hard work to build up a following and start earning from their content. Even when they do - the income is quite low for a while until they pass a certain critical mass.
So why is it that so many content creators come to Steem/Dtube and get discouraged so soon in the process??
In this video I discuss things strictly from a monetary perspective. Of course Steem offers many benefits outside of monetary gain such as a strong community, autonomy, decentralization and true ownership of one's work etc. In this video though, I'm just comparing Youtube to Dtube (and thus most of the Steem blockchain) from a rewards perspective.
If you want to get a little sneak peak at a few of my main thoughts... here are the slides I designed for this video:
Final Thoughts
These are just my observations and thoughts based on trends I've seen in people coming and going on the steem blockchain - and what many content creators are looking for in a platform.
Does that mean I think we should make rewards invisible or extend the 7 day payout period? Not necessarily as I know each of these topics are nuanced and impact other areas of the blockchain.
I do think that it's helpful to point some of these things out and see what we can do as a community to help bridge that gap. The goal isn't to become these centralized platforms that we are trying to attract users from after all, but to show those creators and users our clear value proposition.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts and to discuss with you all below!
D.tube should just add ads since content creators love them so much. :D
That actually could be a pretty good way to solve a few issues.
If content creators had the ability to earn based on ad views for the lifetime of their video - they would be more motivated to share their dtube content with people - even if they didn’t earn a lot of Steem rewards the week it was published. That might help with the quantity versus quality thing as well. If a video is really good, it may continue to get views into the future, even after the seven day window has passed.
Pros and cons to everything - but it could be something for them to consider trying out at some point.
What Do you think of the service "onelovedtube"? Storing videos longer is also a necessary feature. After 1 Month 95% of the Videos are Not accesible (my experience). Should we crowdsource this service for selected dtubers?
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OneLoveIPFS is just a hosting service (for $10/month) for those who want their videos to remain playable forever but lack of technical ability to run and manage IPFS servers themselves.
In fact we recommend content creators to host their own content by running a go-ipfs daemon with their videos pinned. That way we're more decentralized and videos load faster with more nodes (due to more bandwidth available).
To be honest - There is new stuff for steem by the Day. I loose track :D
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What Do you think of the service "onelovedtube"? Storing videos longer is also a necessary feature. After 1 Month 95% of the Videos are Not accesible (my experience). Should we crowdsource this service for selected dtubers?
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I think @dclick is a good idea. I'm sure there's ways to keep videos add free but still make some earnings after 7 days. I'm not against adds in the comments section for people that aren't logged in.
Is it possible to create a steem based marketing Firm within the 2 years? So a place where steemians can actually create commercials for dtube getting paid in steem of course.
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If you're thinking of an inner marketing thing where we market steem users and their content that'd would be a good idea. I remember hearing about @dclick but never managed to take the time to look deeper into it. Wonder how it's been going for them.
that is my point too many (good) projects
Yes, we could just fork dtube, modify the design, a google ads system and here we are. You're in ? (I'm looking for an internship by the way, I think this project is quite big but technically possible)
Google ad system would destroy the way DTube works, thats a majority of the reasons peoples come here. Is demonetization. It would allow google to control and invade users privacy... How about brave opt in ads when they come out?
I dont want to fork dtube i Like @heimindanger and his work
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You can make pull requests on the official dtube github repo if you have any suggestions for code changes 😉
DTube is open source and forking it for your own needs is 100% okay as long as you keep the source open and I can check it out, and eventually merge the good stuff back on the real dtube ;)
So far i am just good enough for shitty forks :D
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Some people are already running some forks, like @wehmoen and @vaultec, it's not that hard :p
I am more the nice guy for good Content. :D - and apperently People are attracted by @drugwars right now
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Hmm. I wonder if we could get something similar going on Vimm. Do you think streamers would pay for additional exposure of their channel?
streamers dont have to pay anything. They can easily mirror their own stuff via OBS. The features are the same(Animation for donation). https://vimm.chat/ tools are quite powerful in this regards.
@vimm has to keep on performing everyday so more steemians use their site on a daily basis. streams so far never exceed two digit numbers.
Well, if you have ideas on how/where to improve, I'd love to hear it. They might just get turned into features on the site! All feedback/suggestions are welcome. (I'm on the dev team)
Also, I was referring to more of a "promoted streamer" sort of thing where a Streamer's channel appears on the front page for a certain number of page views. Obviously this isn't as relevant now, as we're still in the starting out phase. But down the line, as we grow, this could be useful.
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vimm is awesome, obs works perfectly.
it should be easier to change thumbnails of the new stream and to plan streams. A FAQ section would be helpful.
I'll add the first to the list, and we're already working on the second with Vimm University. I'll see if we can't get something a little more fleshed out, though.
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sweet,thx
This is great @coruscate! This really dives into the details and I think will spur a lot of thought and better understanding on how to address these issues. Candidly, I feel as if some of the earliest adopters of steem\dtube have this “has to be quality” legacy thought process on all content, which actually if you think about it is literally the opposite of what mass adoption is.
What I mean is, 99% of content on succesfull social media platforms would not fall under this category. Do we want to have a niche high quality platform that shrivels up and dies, or a large platform with all the awesome benefits of steem that also has mostly low quality posts?
I know your video is about youtube vs dtube but I bring this up as broaching a larger issue that I think exists on the platform.
BTW as you know I LOVE your content (and you!) and so i am in no way taking a shot at high quality content, just pointing out that not everyone is going to pump that out and I think the old guard of steem\steemit needs to adapt themselves and that way of thinking if we are really to be succesful together in bringing in the masses.
As an example I’ve actually seen highly influential and well known content creators be chased away from this platform because they dared repost their own content here.
I could be wrong ( wonder where I got that from? ;) ) about this.. what do you think?
Really? I don't really know about the history, but I know that there are a couple of YouTubers who repost their YouTube videos to Dtube and quite consistently get the DTube upvote... and because they're so consistent (because the YouTube algorithm demands it) , they often get that upvote more than people who create only for DTube.
I know you weren't asking me, but in my experience, DTube just doesn't lend itself to quality videos at all. If you create an amazing video for YouTube, it will be there forever and you can potentially earn from it forever. Lots of YouTubers may not earn much from a single video, but their whole collection earns them good money overall. DTube just doesn't have the content consumers, and so you can create a really great video, and if no one sees it or votes on in the first couple of hours, it kinda feels like you've wasted your time. With YouTube, there's always that hope that an older video still might go well.
I think this is why we'll never see the "How To" videos on DTube that is an absolutely huge part of YouTube.
Good points! Yeah I have specific examples but I really don’t want to name names or cause any drama. And maybe the culture finally is changing, I just know that back in the old days there was this obsession with quality.... its totally possible im just a cranky old man yelling for kids to get off his lawn though
Haha, that's exactly why we get along so well... we're both just old dudes yelling at the kids.
I honestly haven't seen an obsession with quality in the past couple of months I've been active... but that doesn't mean that's not happening now, just means I'm running in different circles.
You can still run? I’m way too old for that nonsense
Old videos (reposts) shouldn't be getting upvoted, can you pinpoint me the videos in question ?
Sorry Heimindanger, I didn't say old videos. What I meant is the users that create their videos for a YouTube audience (usually say things like "Like and Subscribe buttons, hit that Bell button for notifications, etc"), but also upload that same video to DTube that same day.
I haven't noticed people uploading old backlogged YouTube videos.
When Steem was $2-$7 you saw people from Youtube stream over to DTube but now that the price is down most of them seem to have gone away.
This also brings up and show cases a major issue. If these DApps etc don't provide value to steems overall price but instead simply awards steem to people whos only intention is to cash out it is a major train on the cryptocurrency.
There has to be income/value behind these apps besides just the steem token otherwise it will simply keep dragging the price down.
Another way would be to simply provide an incentive to buy and use more steem such as paying for promotion services to promote your video in front of more people on the main page.
It honestly all comes down to ad rev and rev coming into the system otherwise it has no value lol
Hi Lea!
This is a complex issue... I'd like to toss some psychological issues on the table... because they often get swept under the rug.
Let's be honest here (and a large part of this can also be attributed to YouTube having a long history and blockchain social being much newer), most people...
Simple enough. Now, when it comes to dTube, most people..
Couple of things here: These two may look the same, but they are not... and that's where your point about people getting here and stopping is well taken. If your primary intent is to "create videos" you're going to take a different set of expectations to the table than if your primary intent is to "make money."
Incidentally, this same issue plagues all of the Steem ecosystem, including the blogging front ends.
But we have a bigger issue. Whereas the 7-day window might discourage some, the bigger factor here is that there's plenty of incentive to try to drive 300,000 people to view your video through Facebook, twitter and Instagram when you're a YouTube publisher... but "external views" have ZERO VALUE here. So "why bother?" Which also speaks to your point of perceived maximum rewards in each place.
Finally, there's the whole "blockchain" issue. Those of us who are here know about the coolness of blockchains and crypto... but your average bear on the street doesn't care one whit... they just want to post their videos somewhere. Or their blog. So a pitch that includes (as many do) a lot of singing the praises of blockchain technology is gonna fall on mostly deaf ears... except very technically inclined ears, and those aren't necessarily the most suitable content creators.
In a sense, I would have to submit that successful dTube marketing, attraction and retention needs to focus on careful niche marketing. Try to attract specifically the people who are sitting in "great quality but struggling to get traction" on YouTube area, and show them a better way to create.
In the meantime, though, we do really need to consider finding reasons for people to create "evergreen" content... because with that 7-day window, there are none. And I was RAISED on evergreen content! But after two years here? I barely CARE whether what I write today will still be timely information in a couple of years...
I know someone out there is working on an initiative to help reward content creators for "old" posts through some kind of commenting scheme... keeping my eye on that one.
I often have trouble uploading larger file sized videos on DTube and there is no real way of knowing if there is an issue or not. My last upload was 6 days ago (because I've been busy) and the video before was a month in between uploads. I had to upload a few videos to YouTube and use "share2steem" to bring it over to Steem.
You might not have issues uploading videos, but many people do. I have always seen Steem Power as a retirement fund, so even if I only get a few cents for a blog entry or a few Steem for a video upload, I am powering up most of it. I heard the ratio is something like 13:1 Steem Power to Steem in your wallet for a good mix.
So I see DTube earnings as cumulative. It's also difficult to convert back to FIAT without jumping through some hoops.
I think the 7 day cut off does change the dynamic somewhat, but who knows what DTube might do in the future?
So I wrote a post a little while back talking about these very problems and here are some of the ideas I have to address them.
1. A Frontend "hack" to extend the 7 day pay period
The way this would work is that if someone voted on a post after the seven day payout a comment would be automatically created on that post, auto hidden and the upvote would be applied to that comment. Visually, the end user would simply see the post reward go up in line with their upvote and this would all happen behind the scenes effectively removing the 7 day limit.
2. Allow for an easy UX to donate Steem as well as other cryptocurrencies as well as fiat on frontends.
This is also a mod for frontends not Steem itself. Initially we could also just visually show donation per post and comment etc. with Steem, but eventually the real power and increase in all Steem dapps utility would be integrating donations of a multitude of cryptos on all Steem posts.
The way this would work is via an internal exchange where all those other currencies would be converted to Steem and the converted Steem is what would be sent to the creators wallet.
This would not only extend the utility of all Steem dapps, but it would give people who are not necessarily super into Steem a reason to buy Steem, even if they're doing it indirectly. Ultimately this would increase the value that all content creators add to Steem instead of creators ultimately just extracting value. Of course I'm referring to tangible monetary value, not in the inherent value that good content offers.
An extension of this idea that could be done with an SMT or even a Steem Engine token(I think?) would be to reward people who donate with a token that effectively acts as a curation reward token for donations. This could then be traded for Steem, or exchanged for upvotes(similar to Partiko points). This way people that come here and like to reward people via donations instead of via a stake could still be rewarded and build a stake that way as well.
One more benefit of this is that everyone's posts could potentially earn more overall because you wouldn't need thousands invested just to give someone a little tip. The current system will make most users feel like they don't have much influence, but when you can just donate one dollar and have that be visible, and be rewarded for it, everyone will be able to participate at a higher level.
Rant over.
The 'front-end' hack to 7 day monetization would quickly become unmanageable after some time. Imagine when your user has 200 past videos, and not enough SP to re-post that on the chain every week. I actually have a better solution for that issue coming up :))
The comment would only be created if the video/post is upvoted past the 7 day period, which the vast majority of posts wouldn’t get. If someone was getting tons of votes on all their posts, they probably have the SP to afford it.
I can't watch your video since I have a metered wifi now in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. It's rare for a dtube video to play at all and at longer than 2 minutes, I will not even try.
I think the payout window is fine as it stands. dtube is not you tube and does not need to try to be similar. The vast majority of my content creating friends do not get paid for you tube no matter what they do over there and are very frustrated. If they can come here and make anything, it is better than nothing.
BUT - the technical challenges are huge, and few will have your success, which is well-deserved (I used to be able to watch your videos). As with all steem dapps and all of steem - no one will succeed unless they push through the learning curve, figure out what works for them, and do that.
A couple of days ago I read a post by someone who thought they were here for dtube and now do more posting to other dapps to better success. This was a surprise and the person was happy to have found new ways to be rewarded for creative work they did not even know they could do before steem.
And then I know of others who are doing really well on dtube and never even thought to try video before they started blogging on steem. So we all have to find our own paths here and different routes to success.
The youtube video is embedded at the bottom of the post.
Thank you, but I still can't watch. This wifi is a nightmare and I have all media turned off now, so I don't see photos or embeds. It's similar to living in the dark ages :)
Ho sorry to read that ... Hope the situation will get better soon ...
I like DTube, but often have upload issues with it, which is why I am not uploading daily. I try to make my posts as relevant and thoughtful and community focused as I possibly can.
Very comprehensive. I'd been on YouTube for many years (mostly earning zero dollars) before discovering DTube/Steemit. I agree 100% with what you said about how YouTubers know they're not going to get paid at first (maybe never), and how that informs the effort they put in.
Excellent video!
This was a great video. I have 100k on youtube, but they have demonitized so many of my videos. In sort, this was a motivational video and please keep me posted on more about this subject as i am trying to learn how to make ends on this platform. Looks like it has been good for you so far.
I see that these are many limitations but the ability to develop and scale the growth will improve in many ways. However, I believe that in the meantime, content creators can use both in reality and not limit themselves to any community. Unless censorship becomes an issue, I cannot see why both approaches cannot coexist.
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Right. Maybe add your videos to both platforms.