A Chat With An Early Steemit Top Author…….. Steemians Speak – A Mini Vox Pop....... This Week On Steemit…….. SteemMag – Steemit’s Weekend Digest #29 p.2
Welcome to page 2
A Chat With @ericvancewalton
SteemMag: You've been on Steemit for almost a year now. How did you learn about Steemit? And what was the atmosphere like when you joined?
@ericvancewalton:
You've been on Steemit for almost a year now. How did you learn about Steemit? And what was the atmosphere like when you joined?
I first learned about Steemit through Stellabelle. We were both part of a Facebook group called, “Choose Yourself” (named after James Altucher’s best-selling book.) She was posting about Steemit in the group and it caught my attention. When I joined on July 5th the platform was still gelling in terms of content. Back then many of the posts were crytpo or technology related. Very early on, before the end of July, I decided to start posting my short fiction and poetry. I’m so glad I did, my life hasn’t been the same since.
SM: You've been a perfect example of how the blockchain can help authors get paid what they are worth….Do you think Steemit can be a consistent alternative distribution platform for authors like Smashwords, Amazon etc?
@ericvancwalton:
Posting my novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, in installments here on Steemit made me realize that this platform should be part of every author’s marketing plan. I had no idea what I was doing when I started serializing my novel here last Summer but stumbled onto what I think may be the future of publishing fiction.
If you think about it, who has the time to read long fiction anymore? A novel broken into 10-15min installments, each ending on cliffhangers (akin to old radio shows), is perfectly compatible with how we live our lives today.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be releasing the sequel to Alarm Clock Dawn, called Truth Is Stranger here on Steemit later this summer even before it’s published in book form. My thought is, what I make from the installments could fund the cost of book design, editing, and promotion once the physical book is released. In a sense, this would be crowdfunding the book and promotional tour.
SteemMag: What are some things you would like to see and/or removed on Steemit?
@ericvancewalton:
First, I think the downvoting process should be re-examined. I feel that charging people to use the downvote might prevent abuse. The “downvote fee” could be added back into the rewards pool.
The cost to use the downvote could be a small percentage of the user’s account worth so the larger the account, the more Steem it would cost. You could also incorporate the slider to make adjustments in how much you’d like to pay.
Next, I’d also love to see the Resteem featured retooled to be more like “sharing” on Facebook. It’d be great to have the chance to make short comments that appear above the Resteemed post highlighting why you Resteemed it. I think this would get the posts even more attention.
Thirdly, for Steemit to really grow, the registration process needs to be made a better experience. I believe many new users are overwhelmed by the complexity of signing up and some are scared off before then join. How we do this, I’m not sure, but I know we have a lot of very talented folks here who could come up with some great ideas.
SM: Where do you see Steemit in the next 12 months?
@ericvancwalton:
This is totally up to us as content creators and Steemit Inc. I believe all of us are in control of Steemit’s destiny. We’ve come incredibly far in a year but we have a lot of work to do to continue the growth of the platform and the currency.
We need to continue outreach efforts to find effective ways to onboard celebrities and power users from other platforms like Medium, Quora, Twitter, YouTube, etc. If they come to Steemit, and start singing its praises, so will their followers.
We also need better communication from Steemit Inc. regarding platform changes and future plans. Clear, concise, communication from headquarters will be the key providing everyone more confidence in our platform’s future.
I’ve honestly never seen such a high concentration of intelligence, passion, and vision in one place before. If we can all work together towards a singular vision this platform will soon be the largest social media platform in the world. Who in the world wouldn’t want to get paid for something they’re already doing (posting on social media)? It’s a no-brainer.
I'm very bullish on Steemit.
Its so nice to finally have a chat with you for SteemMag. I look forward to an exciting sequel from you. Thanks.
Steemians Speak - Describe your steemit experience so far in:
1 word :
@buzzbeergeek - Exhilarating
2 words
@businesswri - Exciting and Addicting
3 words
@barrydutton - Excitement. Flagged. Liberating
4 words
@cathi-xx - Interesting. Unexpected. Fun. Love
A lot of interesting events happened this week. And in case you missed them, we’ve got your back. Here are some of the most important events that happened on Steemit this week.
~ Steemit Founder and CEO @ned formally marks 1 year anniversary. Post
~ He also announces a new addition to the Steemit team - @zurvanic, the new head of marketing
~ Steem makes a drop from last weekend's quarterly high to 13th on the coinmarketcap.com’s crypto market capitalization
list.
~ @ontofractal releases Glasnost – a steem tool for publishing your steem blog on other websites.
~ @good-karma and @esteem8 releases updates to their respective mobile steem apps.
~ For a comprehensive list of dedicated Steem blockchain apps. Check out SteemTools.com
~ @liondani posts a transparency report on top witnesses opinions on HF 17 . Post
~ Meanwhile, SBD rates ranged from 1 SD = $ 0.89 - 1.12 this week
~$0.16 and $0.25 were the lowest and highest value traded this week for a unit of Steem respectively.
Cool celebratory images by @elyaque . Thanks ;)
P.S Thanks for getting to the end of this weekend's special edition. What was your favorite feature? Which word(s) best describe your steemit experience? Do you have any project you would like to have featured on SteemMag?
I would love to hear from you!
Thank you for the wonderful interview, @infovore! 2017 is going to be an amazing year for us all!
Great and inspiring interview! You've made some excellent points, Eric. There's a ton of room for Steemit to grow especially for writers, bloggers and creatives of all forms. Bullish into 2017 :)
Thanks for dropping by @voronoi. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview. Is there someone or a feature you would like to see on SteemMag?
Hey @infovore, shamelessly, I'd love to chat more about the steem-powered initiatives that I've been working on under the @hitheryon handle. Social x Design and Sandbox among others... let me know if this type of content would be feature-able in SteemMag! Cheers.
Thanks @voronoi! Our future is very bright!
You're welcome. I had a great time chatting with you. Looking forward to more exciting news this year ;)
Part one was better. But I still thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. You are a very talented steemian.
Lol! I appreciate that @lordvader! Your posts are amazing.
As are yours. You are fine example of your planet's inhabitants.
Haha! Thanks for sparing time to read page 2 too. Any talented steemian you would like to see on SteemMag too?
Personally I think it would be wise to feature me and only me for the rest of eternity. But I am busy chasing down scumbag rebels so perhaps you can ask @Papa-Pepper or @dwinblood. @thecryptofiend is going to be busy with a secret mission and I know you have already interviewed him. Oh wait. I have said to much. "Get me my mind eraser Vera!" "Yes of course I mean a blaster".
LOL
Classic Vader.
Thank you for featuring me! I love how succinct you are and easy to read. I hope I don't miss next editions! Can I subscribe?
I hope so too. Sure, pls do subscribe/follow. What would you like to see on SteemMag soon?
Maybe some authors who are quick risers due to their content and not necessarily money investment. I wonder if I could learn something from them.
That is what exactly happens already!
I had no idea! That's great to know @liondani! So, the system currently subtracts from a person's wallet when they use the downvote?
from the "pending payout" (not from your wallet) and it gets proportional added to all other current pending payouts.... so for example if the total reward pool sits on $1000 and we have only 2 authors that have exactly the same votes (weight) then each of them sees $500 as pending payout... now if before the payment the one gets downvoted/flagged to $250, automatically the other one without any change on votes will increase his pending payout to $750 (for a total of $1000 again that will give away the system as an end result)
That is neat. So much learning.
So good to know. Thank you!
Wow. Really. Ddnt know about that. Is there a link for this info?
Excellent interview @infovore and @ericvancewalton-an inspirational author and great communicator on Steemit.
Thanks @opheliafu. Its been quite a while on Steemit eh? How would you describe your experience so far?
Like being in a boat. At times velocity and turbulence has meant paddling non-stop. When the river was gentle I went with the flow, sometimes it was a little stagnant too. But the best thing has been the people in the boat with me. Those who direct, those who stop everything capsizing and those who remembered to bring a picnic.
Do you think we are in for calm waters from here or are there rapids ahead?
Thanks @infovore and @ericvancewalton for the great interview!
@ericvancewalton you brought up many nice ideas (for example the possibility to name a reason for a resteem).
I simply refuse to accept that we should have less and less time for ourself anymore! Why should we? We are having automation processes everywhere (some people actually fear to lose their jobs because of that), so why we should be talked into that unavoidably nowadays nobody should have time anymore to read a good book? Automation and digitalization should be used to make life of people more relaxed and pleasant not to make it more stressful ... :) For me "to have time for myself" has at least the same value as having much money, and thus I will always keep fighting for my "right" to read a great, thick, heavy book from time to time! :-) Of course that doesn't contradict your idea of "10-15min installments" at all: both have its "raison d'être".There are two points though, where I mildly contradict respectively started pondering:
You are right! But one question: do you think the high level (in average) of the quality of the articles and way people communicate with each other (intelligent conversations, friendliness, the ability to listen to and accept different opinions, ...) will persist, as soon as we see a mass adoption of "our" platform? Maybe, maybe not, I don't know ... but I see how "discussions" in other social networks proceed ...
I also hope for much more users here to increase the value of steem and make discussions even more interesting, but at same same time I wonder what the consequences will be?
Thanks for your comment! Part of our "busyness" these days is by choice, I think, but here in the U.S. the cost of living is so high (and pay is so low) that many people have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. I'm afraid it will get worse before it gets better.
I truly hope things stay civilized here as the platform grows. I know what you mean about quality suffering on platforms like Facebook. So many friendships and family relationships have been harmed by disagreements on social media. I think there will always be room for intelligent, substantive content here.
Don't worry: for sure I believe you (and I did observe that myself, also in Germany) that life for many people is getting harder, and they have to fight to survive. But at the same time I think we should not accept this state of affairs. There is enough money and there are people and companies who got unbelievable rich by exploiting others ... Why should "we" work faster and faster, more and more (so that we even have no time anymore to read a good book) to be more "efficient" and "productive", if in the end all the profit will be in hands of a few very rich people? More people should fight back instead to think it just has to be like that. I know it won't be easy, but things have to change!
(Just my personal opinion of course ...)
Good interview. I like his idea about a downvote fee.
Thanks man. I hope it wont bring another layer of complexity. Buh I particularly like the treating a resteem like a facebook share with the ability to add one's comment on the resteemed post. How are you doing btw?
Nice!
Nice. Thanks!
nice post... u r doing great... good luck