The online content and publishing industry has always been heavily dependent on advertisements as a major source of revenue. As owners attempt to monetize their platforms with excess ads, readers’ experience on these platforms takes a hit. As a result, many Internet users have resorted to using adblockers to prevent intrusive advertisements from distracting them. At the same time, the social media platforms have become the go-to place for information these days. However, lack of incentives for individuals and even publishers for sharing content on social media platforms has got many people refraining from posting quality content for the benefit of others.
In both the cases, rewards or revenues are the key factors affecting the efficiency of the content industry. Steem intends to solve these issues by introducing a blockchain technology-based social media platform that presents an opportunity to everyone for interacting with it. The monetization layer of Steem platform is driven by STEEM tokens, and the creators of the platform have ensured that every participant/user gets rewarded for their interaction.
Steem’s user focused social media platform, “STEEMIT” draws inspiration from the likes of Reddit and Facebook, allowing the user to share, promote and even comment on the posts and gain rewards paid out in the form of Steem tokens. This way, the user gets a share of value, in exchange for creating value for the online platforms through their user-generated content. The platform distributes rewards as Steem Power (for voting) and Steem Dollar.
The Steem tokens are currently being traded on some of the leading cryptocurrency platforms like Poloniex, OpenLEdger, Bittrex, HitBTC, ShapeShift and more. The value and total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency have steadily improved, especially in the last two months. Steem tokens currently command more than half a billion in market cap. With the concept of content monetization catching up with the cryptocurrency sector, Steem has already beaten many other projects to become one of the forerunners in the domain, and it is already in a position to shape the industry’s future.