RE: Is Money the Main Ingredient in Steemit's Retention Ratio?
Random thoughts in no particular order:
~ When I first joined steemit (almost a year ago) and I was reading different posts and talking to different people I always heard, "Just make quality content and you will make good money." The onus being on quality content and not a "network" surrounding you. But that ended up being discouraging for me as someone completely new to steemit - I felt I was putting out quality content but I wouldn't even break $1, then to make matters worse I would go to "trending" and see, for lack of a better term, 'shitposts' getting $20, $30, $40+ dollars which was clearly because of the network they had created and not the actual quality. Thus, I felt what they were saying (quality vs crap) wasn't actually true - it wasn't about quality (completely), it was about the network you build first and foremost. Which I think leads into the second "problem" with steemit:
~because it is money based, and everyone wants to find a "network" so their posts can consistently make $10+, it creates, imo, a sort of lack of authenticity - people will upvote/comment to try to create in-roads with those who's votes are worth a decent amount as opposed to actually making a comment simply to connect for fun; in short, it is a lack of authenticity that is driven by wanting to create a network to help you make more $$ on your posts. And I think the whales/dolphins know this too and respond accordingly, knowing that some people only want their vote. To me that is a problem for steemit - I'm not sure exactly how to fix that.
~Sometimes I even hesitate to comment on someone's profile if I feel I don't have much to say because I don't want it to seem as if I am "fishing" to build a relationship just so I can get their coveted vote on future posts.
~I took a break from Steemit for a while (partially b/c my HDD died) and when I came back I have found that I can actually enjoy steemit if I stop "analyzing" how I can create a network or how I can try to get more $ to my posts - I also have stopped looking at trending because it can still be discouraging. Basically I "gave up" and decided to just blog as if it was any other site where $ wasn't attached.
~For the record, I don't think creating networks or whatnot is bad - it simply exists as part of steemit and I think it's an important thing for new people to know - if you want to make consistent money, it's about the network; just knowing that going into it I think sets up the right mindset for someone new to steemit - that it's going to take time to create a network, it wont' happen overnight, even if you are putting out amazing content - you might get a whale to upvote you every now and then but if you want consistent $ it is about the network.
~I have about 10k instagram followers and I've been thinking about creating a post to drive some of them to steemit, but first I want to create a sort of "network" for them, for us all to interact with each other - maybe it will help create that missing "social interaction" you talk about that can help keep us in touch.
~I like steemit, I think it has a bright future; I just think you have to have the right mindset interacting with it to truly enjoy it and stick with it for the long haul.
Thanks for the comment, bud. I think the changing of your mindset is the way forward. The human engagement factor should only grow as more and more people form groups, build their power together and make the whole journey a "fun" experience (which is what it should be after all.)
But in the same vein, I feel Steemit still too young to have an establish community such as other social media platforms. You, as well as every other user here, are at the very beginning. So finding your footing is always going to be tough at this stage. But in the future, I see the network of human interaction as being much stronger. The focus will be taken away from the financial aspect to a certain degree. Communities and subject categories will allow a more honed approach from a user of Steemit and therefore will be more about building relationships and communicating with people you already know rather than being thrown in the deep end with "everybody" and learning to swim at a furious rate.
I believe posting to create a historical diary of what you can do is pretty important when first starting out. The more development with Steemit in the future, the easier I feel the process should be to filter yourself into a niche category where like-minded people exist. We are only at the very beginning of an epic course...
Exactly my ideas, sir. I have recently joined steemit and i also feel the exact same way. And nobody wants to talk about it, that's the biggest problem. I recently made a post about it devoting my full day but still it got very less views. It really is very demoralising. Looks like nobody wants to change the way things are.
I can exactly feel the frustration here. Please if you can spare some time, read my most recent post which is all about this, and most of your ideas from this comment are there, and let me know your reply @allstarrunner
A good point: "Thus, I felt what they were saying (quality vs crap) wasn't actually true - it wasn't about quality (completely), it was about the network you build first and foremost. "
I believe It's a combo of both (not to say you cannot succeed by having just 1) However, most ppl did not gain any sort of following/network by posting only crap right...? That won't fly for long & if you do look at some of the most successful ppl on steemit who are not straight up investors, you will see they are extremely active and outputting mostly "good" (very subjective so lets say "robust") posts.
As Ezzy mentioned below, Steemit is still pretty young and not enough groups exist to really help out the new user enough who may be outputting great content yet doesn't have an established circle in which to draw support during their infancy.
That will definitely change in the near future and I believe that it has a strong part to play in user retention.
Yeah I agree, I'm definitely not against the "network" approach and I also agree that if you're constantly putting out crap you probably will never get any kind of following, so quality is definitely important no matter what.
I think my main critique (based on my mindset at the beginning) was it felt like I was being told quality is most important to making money; but I actually think for someone who is new to steemit the better message is "it will take time to create a network, but don't worry, if you're putting out quality work you'll start making money". This at least creates the mindset that this isn't a place where you'll start making $20-$100 per post right away (even though some have success stories like that, it isn't the norm) but with persistency you will eventually get to making money.
@jaybird and you are spot on. Nobody explained to me either how the "success mechanics" behind Steemit work. It's something we all have to find out for ourselves. But yeah, networking and quality posts are a winning formula I feel.
And we have to bear in mind, this is only the situation at present. Thing will change drastically next year regarding functionality and structure of the platform. So establishing one's self at this early stage, no matter how much of a "grind" it may be, could turn out a very wise move in the end.
Ya, I can agree with that.
Unless you are on-boarded by a friend or bunch of friends who are already established, I believe it's significantly more difficult to get established. It's a process of meeting ppl in the community and also producing content that seemingly contributes to the community