This fantastic broadcast yesterday – which you can now listen to here – organised and hosted by @pennsif on mspwaves, was the first event I'm aware of to offer an intelligent analysis of the Steemit situation, totally different from the sweeping condemnations and infantile barbs I've seen elsewhere. I was impressed by the sheer number of intelligent ideas and solutions that were put forward.
Guest speakers included@aggroed, @anarcotech, @anomadsoul, @crypto.talk, @exyle, @fredrikaa, @hr1, @imacryptorick, @llfarms, @lukestokes, @nathanmars, @paulag, @project7, @shadowspub, @starkerz, @taskmaster4450, @themarkymark, @therealwolf and @yabapmatt.
Each speaker had a two-minute slot initially to put forward their thoughts on the current state of Steem and Steemit. Some of these thoughts conflicted, but they did so in ways that illustrated the complexity of the platform we are involved with.
I'll have to listen to bits of it again to get things straight, but a few things stood out for me:
• the Partiko developer mentioned a system of micropayments they are working on. I've often thought that biggest problem with cryptocurrencies is that they are generally used for speculation rather than as alternative payments systems. Micropayments might make Steem more viable as a currency.
• Discussing the promotion of Steemit through WordPress, @fredrikaa, developer of the Steempress plugin, pointed out that it's difficult to sell crypto, but easy to sell community.
As a blogger, that was like a lightbulb moment. I used to use Mailchimp in a (vain) attempt to get followers to my blogs. List-builders like Mailchimp are huge businesses, but in these days of data regulation, mailouts are increasingly regulated. Steemit offers bloggers readers, engagement and a way to network with others in your niche.
• @paulag spoke about bloggers and vloggers generating masses of poor quality posts on Steemit due to chasing upvotes. She compared Dtube to YouTube, and I think it was @pennsif who pointed out that you can go onto YouTube to find out how to mend things, for example – but not on Dtube.
Actually, there is an enormous amount of poor quality production on YouTube! But YouTube has been around longer, attracts more video producers and has developed a better search facility over the years. The "how-to" guides will come in time, if Steemit and Dtube survive and thrive (and I don't see why they shouldn't). I see this as more of a curation and search engine issue than simply being about quality.
• @paulag spoke about the importance of curation. It's impossible to read/consume even a tenth of the quality content on Steemit, and I agree that niche curation trails are the way forward. I love the steemstem.io website, and although it's probably the kind of thing I would only dip into occasionally, I know that it's there and ready to be referenced or browsed.
• @hr1 spoke about the Steeve interface, which I'm trying out for the first time. Search engines and curation trails are so important for Steemit. Steeve is described as "the Sieve for Steem".
I would have reservations about a search engine that bases recommendations around your personal browsing history, as this is what put me off Google years ago. My searches were being skewed. As an example, I'm a climbing fanatic. I might be frequently searching for climbing gear. Then I might need a new pair of shoes, but all the searches coming up would be climbing shoes. This became a problem for me using Google – however if the personal recommendations are offered instead of forced on you, skewing all your searches, this could work well.
These are just my initial thoughts on this important broadcast. If I'd never heard of Steemit before, and then I happened to listen to last night's broadcast, I'd be buying into Steem.
One idea I'd like to put forward is this: is it really necessary to have a seven-day time window for upvotes? I can see how this short time window increases engagement with the platform, but with Steemians churning out posts like there's no tomorrow, a longer upvote time frame might encourage posts of higher quality, but maybe with less frequency. Just a thought.
More info on this and future forums in @pennsif's latest post.
