Happy New Year Everyone,
Another year has come and gone. It is now time to make plans for this year. In my post Spectrumecons 2020 Year in Review, I discussed my content from 2020 and how closely I followed my initial plan. I accomplished most of what I intended but I also deviated from the plan a little. Deviating from a plan is not necessarily a bad thing. Our world is constantly changing, we need to adapt to those changes. The main intention of my plan is to set a general direction as well as a guide to the areas I believe I should be focusing on. Below are the areas I plan to focus on in 2021.
- Get back to making videos
- Follow up on Covid-19
- Blockchain Economy
- Hive drive
- Applied economics
- Publish my e-book
- Udemy short courses
- Economics Community
- Follow my head
Get back to making videos
I did not publish many videos on Hive in 2020. The only videos I published were my results posts for the Buying and Selling Game and my Udemy videos for my Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) course. I had a much bigger focus on delivering my content in written form. I choose written form as it was an easier way for me to express new ideas. It enabled me to explore areas in detail, which is more difficult with videos. In 2021, I would like to follow up many of the written posts with videos. I believe videos would be a useful way to explain some of the content in the written posts as well as add clarification around several of my ideas.
Follow up on Covid-19
In 2020, the world was plagued by Covid-19 and restrictions. Unfortunately, the same is likely to be true of 2021. Over the final months of 2020, Covid-19 has dominated media coverage more than ever. Daily numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths are broadcast several times a day. There are updates about new strains of the virus. There are updates about the new vaccines and how they will be distributed. There will be considerably less reporting on the social and economic damage caused by the restrictions put in place. There will be almost no reporting on any damage caused by the vaccine.
I intend to revisit the impact of the restrictions and the new vaccines frequently. Information may not be openly reported in the media but there are multiple sources for obtaining statistics. These statistics are useful for analysing the impacts of the Covid-19 restrictions. See my post Covid-19 Catastrophe, for multiple sources of data.
Blockchain Economy
I believe the Blockchain Economy can change the world. However, we still have a long way to go. There is still significant resistance to decentralised blockchains from both Government and big business. The gains in market cap and attention that Bitcoin is receiving with the current Bull Run, is definitely a positive step towards building a Blockchain Economy. For many people, Bitcoin is a gateway to cryptocurrency. As people learn more about Bitcoin, they gain access to information about the blockchain and other cryptocurrencies.
I believe businesses will embrace the blockchain before Government. Several of my posts will discuss how the blockchain can be used by businesses; especially small businesses, to improve efficiency, quality and innovation.
Hive drive
I described Bitcoin as a gateway to cryptocurrency. In 2017, Steem was also a gateway to cryptocurrency. Many people were informed about cryptocurrency through content and personal experience on the Steem blockchain. I knew very little about cryptocurrency or the blockchain before I joined Steem. After being on Steem for a few months, I could not avoid finding out more. I was driven by curiosity, as I now owned cryptocurrency. I did not need to buy it or mine it. I earned it from rewards from my posts. Eventually, I decided to invest in Steem, as I became aware of its value and its potential.
After the events of 2020, Steem has lost most of its potential. Hive, created from a Steem hardfork, is an upgraded replacement of Steem. It is more decentralised and community driven than Steem ever was. Hive’s biggest problem is that people have not heard of it and many of the people that have heard of it do not understand its potential. Hive lacks user uptake and retention. Hive lacks monetary investment. Hive has not engaged in large-scale professional marketing. However, many Hive users actively promote Hive on Twitter. I sometimes post comments to Twitter promoting Hive or informing others about Hive. I have used Instagram and Facebook before as well but it is very difficult to attract attention; I believe I am currently shadow banned on both.
In 2021, I will become more active in promoting Hive on other platforms. I will post to social media such as Twitter more often. I will promote Hive, my content, and communities. I also plan to publish a short beginner’s course on Udemy, see section on Udemy courses. I may also make some videos about Hive, which I could publish to various video platforms, which I would share to even more platforms.
Applied economics
My current content is a mixture of theoretical and applied economics. I believe demonstrating application of economic theory offers the most value to most people. Theory by itself has little value if it cannot be applied or is not representative of something that is happening in the world. However, theoretical posts are useful as they can be referenced in the application posts to provide greater context. A post that contains both substantial theory and application is likely to be too long, which would be off-putting to many readers.
In 2021, I will be drawing off much of the theory I have discussed in previous years. I will investigate real life case studies to explain what theory is being used and how it is being applied. I may even consider cases where economic theory is being used badly or incorrectly. I will also use theory to explain how particular outcomes have been reached and why particular people or groups of people have behaved in a particular manner.
Publish my e-book
Late in 2020, I began work on my e-book. So far, I have spent my time organising content, deciding what should or should not be included in the book. I even wrote a few posts in areas I feel my current content is lacking. In 2021, I intend to complete my e-book. I am aiming for it to be ready before the end of the third quarter of the year.
I believe the bulk of the content is ready. Most of the additional written content will be used to link the existing work. I will also need to revisit the pictures I used in the posts. I will need to determine which pictures I should keep and which pictures I should update or replace. When I am close to completion, I will write a post or make a video about it.
Udemy short courses
I do not intend to spend much time on Udemy this year. I am currently planning on publishing two short courses. Both these courses can be expected to be less than two hours long. Both of these courses will be free-of-charge.
I want to provide a brief introductory course for Hive. The course will target new users and potential investors. The course will contain the most basic elements of Hive such as how to sign up, how to sell and buy Hive, how to post content, how to support witnesses and projects, the differences between Hive, HBD, and Hive Power, and quick descriptions of some of the most popular DApps and communities/tribes. This course will also contribute to my efforts in promoting Hive to a wider audience.
In the other course, I want to introduce Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA). In 2020, I published a detail CBA course; it contains approximately 10 hours of video content. I am charging Tier 1 prices for this course; see signature of post for details. The brief introductory course is intended to give people a taste of what I am offering in the longer course. The course will cover important areas such as structuring a CBA, defining the base and project cases, data collection, calculating results, use of key indicators, and interpretation of results.
Economics Community
I started my Economics Community on Steem in 2019. The community now continues on Hive. In 2020, I did not put much effort into the community. Initially, I planned to do more work with it but I became caught up with other things. I believe an economics community can fit in well with Hive. Hive has several authors who regularly contribute content that is related to economics.
I intend to search for economics content on Hive. When I find appropriate content, I will cross-post to the Economics Community. I will upvote the content I cross-post. I will provide higher upvotes to the content that I deem best or the best fit to the Economics Community. I have a reasonable amount of Hive Power; approximately 200,000 Hive Power over two accounts. I also intend on promoting the Economics Community and content on other social media such as Twitter or Facebook.
Follow my head
I am confident 2021 will have several surprises. These surprises are likely to draw me away from some of my initial plans. I think it is important to adjust to circumstances. If there is something worth writing about or even making a video about, I believe I should jump on it. It is possible that an idea might just pop into my head or I somehow become inspired. I believe I should pursue these ideas/epiphanies while the ideas are fresh in my head. The tougher decision will be deciding what should be put on hold or should be rolled over until next year.
Conclusion
I had a crazy year in 2019, I expected 2020 to be a little calmer but it was not. I think 2021 will be another chaotic year. I think 2021 will be a very important year. I believe it will be a year of change. Whether that change is positive or negative depends on us. We are faced with both serious risks and great opportunities. Throughout the year, I will be writing and making videos about these risks and opportunities. I will support these posts with data and analysis and I will share my opinions about the direction we are heading in as well as how we can improve our circumstances.
More posts
If you want to read any of my other posts, you can click on the links below. These links will lead you to posts containing my collection of works. These 'Collection of Works' posts have been updated to contain links to the Hive versions of my posts.
My New CBA Udemy Course
The course contains over 10 hours of video, over 60 downloadable resources, over 40 multiple-choice questions, 2 sample case studies, 1 practice CBA, life time access and a certificate on completion. The course is priced at the Tier 1 price of £20. I believe it is frequently available at half-price.
Future of Social Media
