Pay to Play – The Future of Steemit
Once upon a time, a blogging platform existed where users could post about things that interested them, and other users could upvote or downvote those posts based on the value they perceived them to have. It wasn’t a perfect system, but with persistence, a person could build a following of other people who liked their content and considered it worth reading.
Then along came a new type of user who recognized an opportunity lurking in the system—they could create automated upvote bots not only for themselves, but for hire. Some of these bot developers put a great deal of SP behind their bots to give them far more voting strength than the average user. Eventually, content creators who could not afford to buy votes or preferred organic upvotes by real humans got lost in the noise. Even well-backed curation teams were unable to lift their posts high enough to gain any real visibility on the platform.
All the while, rhetoric from the Steemit corporate machine continued to suggest that drawing new users remains a priority. Even now, the Steemit Facebook page says: “Steemit is a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content.” It is definitely being marketed as a content-based platform. Yet at the “street level” of Steemit, away from the corporate offices and down here in the communities where the real shit happens, original content is being devalued and marginalized. Ever-increasingly, the only way to gain visibility for new or less-established users on the platform is to buy it.
Analyzing the Ecosystem
This “pay-to-play” system works for many. There has certainly been no push from the top to discourage it. Quite a few investors are profiting heavily from their bidbots, and this is a profit-driven ecosystem. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the new paradigm is here to stay.
Generally speaking, Steemit users fall into one of two categories: investors and content creators. Investors are here for the crypto and could care less about the content. It can actually be a nuisance to them in some cases. They use their Steemit account for the wallet. On the other side of the coin, content creators produce the posts that generate interaction, and this interaction is monetized in the form of rewards.
Reality Check
Here’s the reality: the majority of new users join the platform to create content for rewards. But the rewards belong mostly to the investors, who don’t need new content or interaction to profit from their existing stake. Thus content is irrelevant to them, and so are the creators of it. Unless the content creators can show them a tangible way to increase revenue from the blockchain, investors will remain disinterested in their contribution.
This presents a huge conflict of interest between the two groups using the Steem blockchain: the investors, and the content creators. Unless the brains of this operation find a way to bridge the widening gap, every producer of quality content on the Steemit platform who is not willing to pay for upvotes will eventually head for more productive venues. That may be just fine and dandy with Steemit, Inc. and the investor crowd. Attracting mainstream users away from Facebook and other forms of social media may not be goal. But if it is, Steemit should be doubling down on original content creation, not chasing it away to emerging competition.
If the idea of this alone isn't enough of a reality check, just today @paulag published monthly stats that show new user signup for April is roughly half the new user signup for March. So are we heading in the right direction or not? Again, this may be just fine with Steemit, Inc. But for me, it indicates a definite downtrend.
So...What Now?
I don’t have a pat answer. I know from real life experience that evergreen content (content that has timeless appeal across platforms) has intrinsic value and can be monetized. How to make this work in the Steemit environment is a puzzle that needs solving. I have ideas about curation and even about partnering with bidbot owners. But it’s going to take teamwork. I’ve published this post in hopes of finding that team.
As co-founder of @thewritersblock, I’m well-positioned within the Steemit community to discuss curation. TWB has its own curation team which could easily be repurposed for something of this nature. We would simply need several large accounts willing to commit sizable upvotes every week to manually curated creative content. Yes, Steemit already has several curation trails. But the amount of content that needs attention easily overwhelms them, and the focus of curation is often misplaced in relation to this purpose. A different scale and scope is needed. Do enough large accounts exist with an interest in original content creation to get involved with a project like this? I don’t know. But I’d certainly like to find out.
“Monetizing your content. Partnering with someone who can display ads in your articles and generate some revenue. And market you content to the external community.” --- @mughat
Mughat said it well and gave me permission to quote him. He has the right idea if this is the direction Steemit is headed. I’ve reached out to a couple of bidbot owners to discuss sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Bear in mind, many of the people who follow evergreen content creators may not be familiar with the different bot services branded across the platform. So bidbot owners would be reaching a demographic they haven’t previously tapped. For example, I was unfamiliar with Booster until I heard about it through @jonny-clearwater ‘s blog. Booster supports Jonny with Hots and Shots, and would therefore be the first bot I’d consider were I to go that route. Advertising. Sponsorship. It works.
I hope that people with a vested interest in the future of original, evergreen content on Steemit will get behind this post and make sure the right eyes see it. We need to start a discussion, folks. We’re never going to “defeat” the bidbots or the pay-to-play system. It’s too lucrative. So we might as well learn to thrive in this environment.
I challenge every large account holder to consider the possibility of sponsoring a creative project. Let’s put ideas into action. If you’d be willing to offer a certain number of large upvotes and resteems (because views matter just as much as payout) every week, why not pair up with a worthwhile community? I offer this same challenge to bidbot owners. Booster and Jonny Clearwater are making it work. They present a very good business model of partnership and cooperation. Let’s don’t stand here fiddling while Rome burns. If you have ideas and would like to get involved with this effort to retain top-tier content creators, please let me know in the comments or DM me on Discord.
Read thoughts on this topic by another prominent Steemian here:
https://steemit.com/writing/@gmuxx/why-i-write-fiction-and-why-i-will-stop-sharing-it-here
This stems more from HF19 than it does from the bid bot owners. The bid bot owners and operators are just playing the game well as it was handed to them. And while some might be frustrated by the play to play nature that same system is encouraging rich people to buy and hold steem increasing the value.
Millionaires aren't interested in curating fictional stories all day. This way we have their investment and they get a return. There's an option that's been discussed at length to create a higher return storage place for Steem Power that isn't allowed to vote. they get the return and they don't eff with post payouts, but I think Steemit and many of the witnesses see Velocity, Communities, and SMTs as a higher priority.
Another option is to create a separate down voting pool and allow users access to two types of down voting. One with damage to rep and one without. That way there aren't as many long term consequences to a user where there are rewards disagreements.
Ultimately I think the need for HF19 came from the terrible distribution on the platform, which was caused by Ned and Dan trying to act within the rules to avoid the unlisenced securities offereings that a lot of ICOs are going to get their ass kicked by and build up equity in a blockchain legally without the regulatory hassle.
There isn't a will to go back to HF18 and exponential rewards. There isn't a priority to fix curation because the other projects are believed to be higher impact. For now I think the process is wait a bit for the other stuff to be released and make noise closer to 2019 that curation changes should be the next priority.
While I agree that HF19 plays a causal role in a lot of these problems, I feel like making the same point I tried to get across to @trafalgar when discussing his voting habits: The fact that the system creates incentives for people to act a certain way does not somehow magically absolve those people of all moral responsibility for their actions. That the bidbot system is made profitable by the system parameters is an explanation for the behaviour of investors, but it isn't an excuse. This is, of course, of no consequence as very few investors are interested in doing the right thing unless there is a profit involved. This sounds judgemental, but it's also a statement of fact. We aren't going to change things by scolding them sternly, because if that worked, the entire world economy wouldn't look the way it does.
I know investors do buy and hold a lot of steem. But I would love to see a breakdown of where the profits going to those who delegate to bidbots actually go. How much is rolled back in to SP, and how much goes to BTC and fiat?
In any case, 2019 is a long way off. As things stand now, lots of content creators are going to leave. But that doesn't matter, does it? Content creators are a dime a dozen. As long as there are investors with fat wallets willing to prop up the price of steem, and a stream of creatives suffering from the delusion that steemit would be any more profitable than trying to make it as a writer or artist anywhere else, everything will be fine, right?
And even if most content creators find somewhere else, the steem ecosystem can survive purely on investors. Intuitively, I like to think that a system where people make huge returns on their investment in SP by delegating to bots that upvote token shitposts made by smaller investors is ultimately unsustainable. But I know that's because it offends my moral sensibilities more than my financial ones. I'm also aware that me thinking it needs to be sustainable is possibly unwarranted. All that the system needs is that later investors think it is sustainable over a certain time-frame, and that early investors get their money out before the newcomers realise they are bagholders for a token that is never going to underpin the next big social network.
I'd love to be wrong about this. Very little would make me happier than for Steemit to be a place where content creators can get money and/or exposure for their work. But it's not happening now, and I'm not sure it will ever happen.
Very well put. I am in total agreement.
This is the hard truth. Quality of content doesn't matter, so long as it's 'content'. STEEM will rise in price atop that illusion. The pyramid it stands on can be built of dung or steel, so long as they're shaped in bricks. And bidbots and investors give those bricks their form.
Content creators can leave without any substantial consequences to the economy. Steemwhales.com states that 95% of the value on this site are held by 2% of the accounts.
Content creators aren't the big money holders 2%. They're the cannon fodder, the pawns.
Scrooge McDuck has that big money.
The revolving door will continue to turn with or without us. That's just the name of the game until the platform's actual underlying structure is changed.
So pop a beer, sit back and wait and see if Hivemind+Communities can change anything. If not, well, it's been good, Steemit. You'll probably get a choice of different platforms as crypto continues to evolve. EOS will have one, and others will pop up as the crypto bubble continues to expand.
Unfortunately, I think I am inclined to agree with you, which for me is rather unsettling. You see I love to read, I have found many many good stories to read on steemit. I like that, unlike when I buy a book, I can interact with and reward the author's at the same time. I have found older works by Authors that I enjoyed, and after reading commenting, and interacting with them, I have sent SBD's to them because I read their book, and liked it. I realize not all people do that, but a few of us readers do. Stories is one of the reasons, well the Reason, I joined steemit. My wife told me there was lots to read on steemit, and there was, still is, but I am in fear that there will be an exodus of writers, thus I am keeping my eyes open for other sites.
I can tell you that not only readers enjoy that interaction... but writers thrive on it as well! :) Hearing the thrill and excitement of a reader - IN THE MIDST OF THE STORY - is fuel and fodder to a storyteller!
I'm a very stubborn author and I usually stick to my vision throughout the write. But - on Steemit, I actually listened to my readers and added in an element to the story that was not at ALL where I was intending! After adding it in, I had to find a way to still hold true to the main theme of the story without compromising and pandering to my audience. Not only did I do that effectively (well.... I suppose I better wait until the last chapter is completed before I determine its effectiveness), but I think that I changed the storyline into a more believable and enjoyable read for my readers (and myself!)
I know that a lot of people have strong feelings about creating and publishing original stories on Steemit - but I'm already a published author. I prefer THIS type of interaction. What Steemit provides is absolutely priceless, in my opinion. I hope that it doesn't go away. I can easily go back to writing books and releasing them to the public by standard publishing, but it isn't nearly as fulfilling as this platform!
Money is never a motivation for me. Do not misunderstand - It's very nice! It also gives me opportunities to spread it back around in ways that I wouldn't have otherwise! But I have an unusual (and very blessed) situation where I don't need to write for money. I can, and do, write for the enjoyment of writing and for the thrill (hopefully) of my writers.
Hoping that they can fix this issue for those writers who do NOT have the option of under-compensated writing!
It is always a pleasure to meet new Authors, (well new to me), I will be looking over some of your post, as I get time I will try to read some, I currently have room for one more story to be added, I had to start forcing my self to stick to a four story at most read on steemit, it got out of hand for me about 5 months ago, I kept getting "lost" and mixed up in all the stories I was reading, not doing justice to the Authors or to myself being spread so thin.
bwa ha haaaaaaaaaaa.... another victim... er, um.... i mean. READER! hooray!!! :)
well - good news... chapter 15 came out today.
even gooder news. (tee hee) I end all my chapters on a cliffhanger - sorta - but you have 15 chapters to read!!! so you miss out on that awful "what comes neexxxxxxxt" feeling 15 times in a row! :)
bad news. i think i'm only 1/3 of the way through. that feeling will be returning once you hit chapter 15. lol
nice to meet you @bashadow!!!! I totally understand what you mean about reading so many at once. I used to read 4 books at once. Gobbled them all up - but then.... couldn't really appreciate them as much.
If you'd like to read mine at a different time - i wouldn't be the least offended! Being "past its payout" means nothing to me. Just come read when you can :)
I don't post stories on Steemit, I treat it more like a blog, but I can tell you that comments and reviews of my novel thrill me every time. I just got commented about it on FB today and it's still like, "Whee! People like it!!"
So yes, please do keep commenting on your favorite authors. If they are like me, their inner dialogue is something like, "I suck I suck I suck I suck SOMEBODY LIKES IT YAAAAY".
I think that is pretty much everyone inner voice, I know it is mine every time I post anything. The first two, oh heck let's be honest three or four months was hell on steemit. I got to read a lot, and found a lot of authors to read. Life goes on, and I still like to read, and well I've gotten to where I like to comment on post, on stories, on pictures, everyone likes to hear/read that someone thought enough of what I had to say they said something back. You should test post a few pages at a time of one of your stories, on FB, you get no pay, here on steemit, maybe a few pennies per page, but beats the book gathering dust. "Hint: Start with the middle book, and tell people if they like it book one is available on Amazon", don't really do that though, but yeah hook people with a little see if it gathers steem to you, can't hurt.
Preach, brother, preach.
And that's reasonable, @aggroed. In the meanwhile though, Steemit is really taking a hit. It's hemorrhaging evergreen content creators and down--waaaaay down--on new user signup. Some of us might be willing to dig in and wait it out, but we're in the minority.
This certainly isn't an anti-bidbot rant. If so, I would never suggest that content creators work seamlessly with them. You are correct in that everyone is just playing the game that was handed to them. But see, that's exactly what content creators have to do in this particular situation. ECC (evergreen content creators) users have to adapt and change, not get on our high horses and point fingers at everybody else. That's about as productive as mopping a floor with diarrhea. LOL
I'm hoping for a grass roots effort, for larger account holders who think Steemit is a good place to nurture the creative arts like writing, art, and music, to team up with content creators and communities to bring visibility to the content being produced here. I don't think curation on the platform itself needs to be "fixed." I just think we need more active involvement with it from users who can make a difference.
I think that's a market cap of crypto thing. BTC plummeted, steem went back to $1.34 or so. I think as the price rises everyone will come back. We'll see. Only thing that I find that I find that correlates activity on the platform is price. Doesn't mean that's the only thing. It's the only thing I've found so far.
I can tell you definitively that creatives are leaving. Several people in The Writers Block have left Steemit, and many more are contemplating it. We have a meeting scheduled for the weekend to discuss possibilities. They are not leaving because of the crypto. They are leaving because they realize they can't compete in the current ecosystem and are getting no visibility, despite consistently producing quality content. They were doing much better on the platform last year than they are now, even before the price of crypto spiked.
Totalmente deacuerdo contigo mi estimada @rhondak, eso a lo que hace mención es la pura realidad, por tal motivo es importante tomar las acciones correspondientes en equipo.
If they want visibility though this isn't that platform for them at all, most people here want rewards. The fact that someone can start blogging/posting videos and actually start to earn a few bucks per post by joining a community is something that does not exist anywhere else.
Posts on steemit largely don't get many views as more people's folowers are bots.
If they want visibility it is a mistake to only post on steemit, it is also a mistake to not post on steemit. Posting everywhere like Medium/Facebook/Minds/Reddit/Voat/Making your own website/Blogger/ etc, if people want visibility they need to be everywhere.
Through my time on steemit and on the internet in general as a youtuber/blogger, people give up on making videos/blogging because they don't make any money within the first few months. The only reason it takes them longer to give up on steemit is that they were making some money the whole time but it isn't enough. Steemit onnly has less than 1 million total accounts with a lot being bots, it is still very early on this platform.
LikeI said, people who want visibility will figure out how to get it, people who want to only make money will quit making posts.
just my .02
WORST IDEA EVER BTW.
Steem already isn't decentralized enough and you want to double down and give all the whales twice as much power? There will be outrage and mass exodus if this "fix" happens. Flag wars x1000 isn't the answer.
The real answer is wait for SMTs to come out and hope against hope that they deliver. That way someone will make a superior SMT that's actually better than Steem/Steemit and Steem/Steemit will have to incorporate attributes of the new coin to stay relevant.
You want content discovery and price discovery? you need to make it so that a whale doesn't have to give up 25% curation rewards to break up a circle jerk or a bid botted post that's on pure trash.
There are ways to discover content that don't revolve around how much a post is being rewarded. I guess no matter how much I talk about these things I'm the one who's going to end up doing the work.
You didn't address the issue at all. Doubling the power of whales is a good idea? No. At least as it stands now a whale has to pay a little money to smack someone off the trending page. You're basically saying, "Hey let's let them do that for free." Amazing plan.
My thoughts of the subject in a nutshell.
Investors can act in two ways.
Continue selling all of their SP/votes to gain maximum profits for today.
Invest a percentage of SP/votes to quality posts, in doing so maximizing Steems value for tomorrow.
Partnering with bidbot operators could help in two main ways.
It would alleviate some of the distrust among the investors. Investing in the future of Steemit seems better when you know that the other investors will be paying their share as well. If the bidbots factor this into the payouts for SP delegations, everyone who delegated would be investing into Steems value at the same rate.
There would be a clear dividing of Bidbots. Those that refused vs those that choose to invest in Steems future. The free market would work it out from there.
I'm not paying to play.
Either authenticity and true spirit of what seems to be the original intention of the platform will win out or it will eventually crumble.
Rewards come in more forms than just digits in the wallet for operating in that authenticity.
Steemit is a tool and an exciting one at that, but I'm not paying to play.
I totally agree.... but it seems like @edicted has found a way to level the playing field??? Of course, that may not be the case - because I know very little about all of this.... lol but after reading his comments, and then reading his last 3 blog posts... i'm so intrigued.
we have people that don't want to pay to play. we have people that are paying to play to get paid to play and then some. but what if we could negate it all - by just having EVERYONE pay to play. kinda like The Incredibles.... when everyone is super, no one is. LOL
and this...
ahhhhh. so very much true and so very much good. music to my ears!
I agree.
I did a post month or so back called "The Dangers of Pay to Play." At the end I sort of proposed a human curation voting service. One where you pay to be viewed, and the work would speak for itself, no votes would be guaranteed.
Pay to view, maybe, but I'm not paying to play. (Unless of course it's like the "Sword of Destiny" with a +10 to attack. Then I would be silly, not to at least consider it.)
This is quite the conundrum. Is it possible to solve this problem here? I seriously doubt it.
If you can't beat them, why not join them and rape the reward pool through overusing bidbots? I have more about me than that.
I do, too. The recent advice I got from someone who used to be about good content: "shitpost and earn what you can." I can't bring myself to do that.
This post might get flagged by Bernie, btw. I won't whine about it if that happens. I know what he's doing and don't demand exemption. The worst part of that is the fact that it won't reach the people who need to see it most for the sake of our platform. Ah, well. We'll get the info about this out some other way.
Sigh
As with all wars, there's always collateral damage.
Yes, and I'm political enough to know this.
If it gets flagged to oblivion I will, with your permission, post it on my blog and send you the rewards, just so any conversation can continue.
Well, thank you. We'll have to get it whitelisted with Cheetah, if possible. Or maybe not. Dunno. I'm not worried about the rewards, GMuxx. I'm interested in as much exposure as possible. It's too late to decline payout, unless there's a trick I don't know about.
HEY... now that would be an option if it happens.
We'll see what happens. I know money isn't your primary motivation ;-)
It's a pitty and I certainly don't recommend Steemit to anyone anymore. Before I had mentioned to several people in various art groups.
I don't know how much of Steemit is patented, but competition with someone would surely motivate some changes. Justin tv is no more because a better streaming platform came along.
Moreover, Steemit is proof that the main way to succeed is to join early, so I doubt anyone will think twice before trying the new platform.
Finally, if something does come along, it wouldn't be too hard to lure Steemit followers to the new place. Just post a cut version of something on Steemit and leave a link for the rest of it :P If there is anyone left to read it anyways. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
That sums it up pretty much. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
..*.. Muxxybot concurs ..*..I've read your post and also the one by @gmuxx and agree with both of you. I said more on the other post, but have resteemed his and yours as well.
Thank you, @jcedwards
scurries off to read what's on the other post
LOL! :D
I like this discussion. But it's like any platform in my opinion: time and effort, engaging posts and gaining followers. I think there are angles for success for minnows. Writing the right sort of posts. Curation is possible to get rewards too. But this post is still food for thought.
Posts like this lack insight into the future. Bid-bots are 100% propped up by Steemit's shitty trending tab. What's going to happen when someone makes a better trending tab? What's going to happen when EOS comes out and brings competition that forces Steem to evolve or die?
I'll tell you what happens: everybody wins. That is the nature of this cooperative capitalistic system we are moving toward. Everyone is helping everyone with open-source collaboration. Are there going to be hurdles along the way? Yes. Will it be like this forever? We are experiencing exponential growth in the cryptosphere; stagnant development is impossible.
Seriously is going 50x in one year from $0.08 to $4.00 not enough for you people?
@edicted, I happen to agree with you about the trending tab. 100%. It would solve a great deal of this problem. Hell, it might solve all of it. But that isn't something that users can control. I'll stand with you campaigning for devs to change it, but in the meanwhile, we have to figure out how to work with the hand we're dealt.
Not when views are as important as the payout. For evergreen content creators, visibility is a keen motivator. ECC users are building an audience, and if Steemit doesn't provide the audience, they'll go elsewhere eventually. I think this is evident by the 50% reduction in new user signups--word is getting out, and current users are very reluctant to invite people to join this platform these days. What I'm hoping is not for Steemit to be the end all/be all audience generator for ECC users; I encourage everyone at The Writers' Block to heavily promote their Steemit posts on other social media platforms. However, this is not a reader-friendly environment. And that goes back to your concerns about the trending tab. Spot on about that, you are.
When it really comes down to it @ned and friends bit off way more than they could chew... especially after being abandoned by @dan. We are playing a game of catch-up where they aren't going to address any of these problems until they get SMTs up and running smoothly. I can guarantee you they are racing the clock trying to launch before EOS releases on June 30.
I'm not going to stress about these issues until EOS launches.
Are you sure you're on the right platform for 'evergreen' content? I think you have to see this platform as a certain kind of platform. You can't always determine the 'value' of a post. What is valuable to some is not to others. A good platform creates a balance for everyone. And it's very honest to have an 'ecosystem'. Life isn't fair! But everyone has... a chance.
Resteemed. This one is a big one. I'm myself, yes, I'm here for the rewards, though I'm certainly not trying to become a millionaire. I see what the Steem blockchain is doing is pretty awesome; there are some great developers out here trying to make shit work. I think that our best line of defense right now is to ignore the idiots. after all, on centralized communities like Youtube, for instance, I imagine that it took years for each person who now is able to make money from their videos lots of time and effort. Same thing for the blogging scene.
You bring so much to the Steemit community @rhondak.
Can’t tell you how many times I have considered going bot. The investors verses the content, may soon drive the content to a hard stop.
Personally, good content becomes harder to find every day. I love to read, so my priority is to find the content that interests me.
Many excellent bloggers here on steemit, but I have watched many just disappear or find another platform to write on.
Personally, when I have poured my heart into writing decent content it has gone pretty much unseen. The message being if you can’t or don’t want to get on dtube , discord, or a game challenger, it might be wise to team up with someone like booster.
Thanks for taking the time to state the obvious fact, that this topic deserves some consideration and proper discussion. 🐓🐓