How do we attract and retain the masses?

I think this should be our biggest question as we consider the future of Steemit. 

Right now, my creative posts are being viewed almost exclusively by other content creators. Most of them have learned that—in order to make money—it’s good to engage with the community. So they scan my writing, give me an upvote, and leave a polite comment. While I appreciate their time and thank them for their feedback, I think we can all agree this is not the ideal audience for content creators.

I want nothing more than to see a thriving artist community on Steemit. This means we need to find a way to attract a general audience; an audience who is motivated by original content instead of making money. Without the masses, artists and entertainers will seek other platforms where their work can spread. 

Here’s the most exciting prospect: a robust audience will attract established content creators even more than money. Lure the masses, and the whales (the creative kind) will follow. 

I admit I may be too new to offer meaningful suggestions, but I hope the following ideas can serve a useful starting point for dialogue.

A Dynamic Front Page

Right now, a user needs to click on each separate category for the content they would like to view. This is fine for other Steemit users who are driven primarily by making money, but this is too much work for the general user who just wants to read a poem or see cool photographs. 

If opening steemit.com brought the user to a personalized home page with a blend of their favorite tags, it would simplify the search for content while keeping them engaged with the site. 

More importantly, a customizable front page would hide the plethora of meta posts. While these are vital for content creators, the average user doesn't care about Steemit politics or cryptocurrencies. 

(On a similar note, a link to the all-time-highest posts in each category might jumpstart the interest of the average user!) 

Rewards for Top Comments

Artists thrive on feedback as much as money. 

I don’t understand the inner-workings of Steemit enough to know if this is plausible, but finding more ways to incentivize comments would go a long way toward luring the masses, encouraging meaningful feedback, and, ultimately, giving creators another reason to use Steemit as their primary platform for original content. 

Porn

This topic probably deserves its own post so I’ll keep it short: from reddit to blu-ray, porn is the vital underbelly of every major media platform. There’s no reason women would post on r/gonewild if they could be making money on Steemit. Cater to them and the masses will follow in droves.

Encouraging Art

Perhaps the best solution is in the hands of the artists themselves. 

One of my favorite posts this week came from @anca3drandom who held a Steemit art challenge and rewarded the winners with Steem. Even cooler: a commenter donated money for round two! 

My meager attempt at attracting established artists will come in the form of a unique interview format. The interviews will be concise, provocative, and visual… and I hope to have the first three ready by the end of the month. Every interview will be exclusive to Steemit, so hopefully the artists will see our potential... and link their fans to the site!

_________________________________

I'll end by noting that Steemit has been doing everything right so far. The launch HAD to focus on attracting creators for the site to work, and they did this brilliantly. But in the coming months, our focus needs to shift toward the masses. We have original content from brilliant  minds and the best damn platform to incentivize both… 

Now let’s share it with the world.

(I would love to hear from anyone using Steemit strictly to view content. How has your experience been in these first few months?)