There are times I get a little giddy, and this is one of them! I've just discovered 1ramp.io
The timing couldn't be more perfect. Only yesterday I was actually extolling the virtues of Facebook due to the fact that I love the groups and pages and their organisation into a feed. A feed in my case which isn't cluttered by friends.
Today, I came across a post about @the1ramp , which is available on Desktop and Android and being a curious soul, decided to check it out.
You will be pleased to know that the cat is still alive...........
@the1ramp defines itself as:-
Social media for creators -- Enabling communities, contests, and creative collaboration on Steem.
...and so going back to my love of FB groups and pages, the first thing I noticed when logging in was a list of community groups on one side of the screen and a list of interesting topics on the other. I want to check out @travelfeed , I click on it. I want to check out Fashion blogs, I click! You click and your feed adjusts accordingly. Genius. I see these lists are not at the moment fully customisable but if you go to your profile, you can choose specific community interests but I'm not sure yet whether that changes the home page. I would really like to show my specific interest tags, so for example, I could add #needleworkmonday to the list and @the1ramp would automatically throw all articles with that tag into my feed, regardless as to whether I follow the individual person or not. That would be awesome, like with Facebook, I often prefer to follow interests as opposed to people which is why this has me so excited, especially if I can do both!
Another thing @the1ramp is big on are competitions and there is a direct link to all the current contests and competitions. If you click the '+' symbol to create a new post, it gives you three options; short post, article or competition and you have a tick-box that gives you a choice to use Markdown or not.
Yes, I did say there was also an Android App...
...which is quite a generic and familiar format. Very clean, simple and usable although I haven't yet delved into it too deeply. Perhaps I'm a little afraid I might prefer it to my beloved @partiko ;-)
On both formats, there is no distracting wallet or financial stuff, the interface is beautiful and simple. Clean and refreshing to use. I love this form of design. A great deal of thought has gone into the user experience which is how it should be. Too many times on Steem we see complex and 'faffy' interfaces which need a degree in rocket science to understand. To gain adoption. We need usability and I think this is really starting to come, not only with @the1ramp but with other new and upgraded DApps, @dlease springs to mind.
I know there is now a lot of competition in the Front End market, but as a user and consumer of content much more than a creator, this knocks spots off every other interface. I have said for a long time, that the geeks should code and the designers should design.
