RE: Fair Wages, or Why Steemit Isn't Right for Cultural Institutions...Yet.
No, the blockchain in not a panacea. I don't think anyone claimed it was.
Thanks for your review @tmaust, but I think your assumptions miss a major point. This course enabled its participants to engage with the subjects and materials of the semester on a blogging platform - something we could have done elsewhere and have earned nothing. By working on Steemit, we collectively earned funds that simply would not be available to us - to the sector - any other way.
Is this a model for nonprofits to embrace? What we proved, I think (and @remlaps seems to agree) is that more time (and patience) would be needed to build a viable, sustainable Steemit-based community.
What did we accomplish? We created something of interest and of value where there was nothing. Nobody was going to pay us to create the content we did. Nor should they have. Nor should we have accepted their funds if they had offered any.
Imagine a scaled up model of not 15, but 150 students posting their "homework" on Steemit and engaging with one another and building not $6,500, but $65,000. that wasn't there before. And imagine the opportunity to engage and create impact that would offer. Those students would have earned themselves a real stake in the sector.
No, the blockchain in not a panacea. But it is a new and different tool with real potential. In our own little way, even in a "down" market, I think we proved that.
very well said @phillyhistory!
I've always thought that this experiment was just that....a pioneering experiment and any earnings a boon, frosting on the cake so to speak.
I'd also challenge the idea that $18./hour isn't worthwhile....it's significant given the other gains occurring simultaneously especially given the short time invested here. Presumably, over time richer and enduring relationships would be built and more rewards gained. It takes real time to network and build relationships here on steemit just as it does out in the world. Was this component of each student's experience tracked? I'd be interested to know how much time each student gave to proactively reaching out to other steemians to develop relationships outside of @sndbox and classmates...
If this class or others were a regular feature on the platform they would gain a following. I found this class interesting to follow even if I didn't read every single post nor comment on all that I read. I believe that this format does offer the steemit community a glimpse into student's learning process within any given class and offers the students the valuable experience of a different paradigm. I can see this class at the very least as a useful catalyst to investigating blockchain tech which is undoubtedly one of the pathways of the present and future....and something each is paid for engaging with!