RE: Steem = Ponzi? Here's what you might reply when asked this question.
Hello @roxane;
I always tell people that the price of STEEM will inevitably go to zero. Just as the first email to be sent out cost thousands of dollars (had to buy a computer; had to have an email server; had to have an email program; had to have the internet) we are in the time that STEEM is expensive. By itself STEEM is a protocol that instead of sending emails allows people to interact in Social Media that is no longer controlled by a few individuals. If you want to post bad puns it will always be there. While certain people might make your post less visible - it will always be there. The fact that this is going on the blockchain could mean that my descendants 100 years from now could read my posts and gain insight into my thoughts, goals and dreams. Posting the same content on twitter/facebook means that this insight will be lost either when I go a step too far and they cancel my account, or in some cases are removed due to inactivity or the facebook/twitter will disappear.
In this context people are not putting money into a Ponzi scheme but are investing in the future.
While I say that STEEM will go to zero value, it has many uses on top of its social media function. I have been working on a model of STEEM that would allow it to disrupt education. Currently education requires funnelling a jumble of information into the heads of unwilling students and costing thousands of dollars per year per person. Having all the courseware on STEEM would allow one to read and watch all of the courses (including lectures). The students would be tested through another process. This is just one area that STEEM will be able to increase its value.
As more people consider the potential of aggregating information on STEEM it will quickly match BTC in price.
you are confusing cost with price. The cost of email was initially high, and now it is low. The price of email is also low. The cost of steeming, initially was high, because of low returns on investment, but now the cost of steeming is lower, while the price is higher.... basically, what you just said lacked clarity, and is contradictory. not sure why this is at the top of the comments list for this post.... oh... because you upvoted it.
I agree I tend to be a little obscure (lack clarity) because I try to be brief - Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
No I didn't confuse cost with price. To set up a mail server continues to have a certain cost, but nobody expects to pay to send an individual email.
Steem network maintenance is facilitated by witnesses. I have no idea what the mechanism is being employed to have these computers manage the data flow. While it will never cost zero (computers cost money) - in the long run STEEM will go to zero in price. Everything goes to zero. Napster used to have a marginal cost (hard drive space), had zero price but had a huge value - spelling the end of the way the music industry conducted business.
STEEM will always have a cost (as long as its active), would go to zero price (as technology evolves) but will have a huge value because it can disrupt how media companies will work. Just today I saw a presentation describing how Twitter and Youtube will end. Twitter (because people won't care) and Youtube because of the loss of Net Neutrality. Would you subscribe to Youtube for $50 per month when alternatives will be free?
I'll suggest that YouTube will go to 0 long before Steem will. Btw, your long answer didn't make any more sense than the short one. The reason Steem can distrupt social media is because the token has value and people are getting paid to create content. I guess I'll stop trying to reason with you, because you'll likely just reword what you already said
I agree here is a video citing 10 companies which are in crisis and could disappear soon (including YouTube)
Each of these were social networking sites. They were very large, very profitable.
Either they wiped out earlier forms or they were wiped out by Facebook.
The STEEM community is 500,000. Facebook has 2.07 billion monthly active users. I expect STEEM will add Facebook to the upper list. Eventually something will supplant STEEM.