Over the last few days, I pondered what the potential is of the new Subscriptions feature that is being added.
Before going any further, the success of this is going to depend upon the features that are available under it. We were told that only blog posting will be live at the beginning. Personally, I do not believe this is enough to get things rolling.
It was discussed that shorts and Threads is also going to be added. That is a bare minimum of what is required. The ideas around subscription only threadcasts are interesting. We can see how this will add another level of engage for the subscribers.
Another idea is to have polls which only the subscribers can vote in. This will be a handy addition.
That said, the fact this is designed where all activity comes under comments is genius. It changes everything to the point where we now have something that is viable for building a content based business.
For that reason, I am going to share my views about this.
How to Make Subscriptions Valuable
To me, this is going to only work for serious business builders.
For years I roiled against crypto people. The majority of them are simply out trying to scalp tokens. They truly do not want to put in any effort. Instead, they are looking for handouts.
To succeed with Subscriptions, commitment and dedication is needed. For those who fall into this category, you might be in luck. This is not the majority on Hive, let alone LEO.
I foresee many failing because they cannot keep commitments. If one promises to post 2x per week, then it is essential that is done. Failure means that renewals will not happen.
Again, we see dedication being the key. My observation is most approach Web 3.0 as a hobby, simply being users looking to extract a bit of money. This is not who the feature is designed for.
Like any business, the key is to provide more value than is being charged. If the price is 10 HBD, provide more than that. Unfortunately, it is not an easy thing to do, especially at the beginning.
Here is where my first quandary arises: is this something that should be started immediately when it goes live?
Personally, I am torn. Without a full slate of functions, i,e threads including shorts, it is limiting.
Also, it is hard to substantiate value when the database is empty.
Database Building
Is anyone surprised that I bring up the idea of a database?
With this, we are dealing with something different. This is not being used to feed into LeoAI. Nor is it making things public for humanity to use.
Due to the encryption, this is a database reserved for one's subscribers. As with all databases, what is the value of it?
Here is the dilemma.: the database is empty. Why would people subscribe to an empty database?
Naturally, this is going to depends upon the topic. Some might have a subject matter that can provide immediate value. That said, it is easier to substantiate the price when there is a database of material to go through.
This is why the additional functionality will be necessary. Having threads and shorts means a lot of content can be submitted in a short period of time.
Then we have the question of search. How will the subscribers find anything? Will it be the same old long list of posts that requires scrolling for hours on end? This is something that is frustrating about the likes of Medium or Substack. The latter also seems to have a below average search capability.
Naturally, I have no idea what the format looks like. Until it is released, all of this is speculation.
However, if asking for money from people, serious tools are required.
A New Era in Web 3.0?
If built out properly, this could be a new era in Web 3.0.
To my knowledge, there is nothing like this available. It is a big step forward, especially since it is tied to Hive. The features already built on there, along with what Leo has done, enhance the ability to build using Subscriptions.
For example, a serious content creator is going to use threads and shorts to promote the expertise he or she has. This means we could see a great amount of activity as people start to realize they have tools they can use to market.
The fact that those features can be seen by all and could garner upvotes means a bit more revenue can flow in.
Not only does this start to change Hive but Hive can also enhance Leo in this manner.
There are other ideas that are rolling around in my head. Here is where we see some creativity and ingenuity enter. Sadly, it doesn't seem the masses are willing to dedicate to building. This is to the advantage of those who are.
Many are going to come up with ways to really monetize their content. The fact that $LEO is still held means the tokenomics are working in the favor of those who have stake in the platform.
Thus, it is in the best interest of those people to see this succeed.