Before we have mass adoption we need more adoption. That's what a friend likes to say. Makes sense, doesn't it?
That's one side of the coin.
On the other side of the coin, if a car leaks oil what do you do? Do you add more oil or do you fix the car, so it won't leak anymore?
Granted, it seems always easier with machines than with people. If a car is fixed by a great mechanic, it will work fine. At least for a while.
People have feelings, friends and maybe enemies, preferences and interests. To name a few. But still, if we use this metaphor on Steem, we need a better retention both for newcomers and for veterans.
Until then, with all the improved adoption, we will still leak way too many people too attain exponential growth.
Tribes and communities, SCOTs and SMTs come with the benefit of a smaller, more targeted community and topics. That do and hopefully will increase retention and improve the sense of belonging people will have to a specific tribe or community.
I believe tribes were introduced at the perfect time. SMTs and Hive Communities were still far away, and nothing seemed to excite enough steemians to bring the activity back up. Of course, the price of STEEM played a role, it does and always will, for as long as it will be the link out to fiat or other crypto.
One of the projects which probably has a better retention across our ecosystem -- from what I believe, without having hard evidence to back my sayings -- is Steem Monsters. I hope someone who has access to this kind of data will offer some insight. :)
Why does Steem Monsters probably have a great retention?
I have thought of a few reasons why that happens:
- people like games
- investors like when their investment has a great ROI
- people like to be heard and their feedback taken into consideration
- users like ease of use
- gamers love to win, but even more, they prefer games with great graphics (and theme), addicting game play and always evolving while remaining consistent with previous addons
- investors / gamers will gladly part from their money, if they see a sound business model with a clear win - win scenario for both parties
What do you think, does Steem Monsters qualify for those reasons or qualities?
If retention is at least good, it makes sense to make efforts to improve adoption.
And they have done that by reaching out to Tron users some time ago. Now they work to allow SM cards to be traded on the Etherium blockchain, for a higher visibility.
The next step in the series is to make the Steem Monsters free to play. That's a big step forward, because there are many people who love games but won't pay to play one (before they are hooked).
The catch is... the locks on free-to-play accounts. And we know people love to unlock stuff. And when you start to get the Steem Monsters "bug", $10 for a starter pack will seem quite insignificant, to unlock daily quest and seasonal rewards, DEC rewards and tournaments.
This is smart! This is a sound business model. This is "why".