This is a standalone continuation with further iteration of the things I have said here, outside of the SteemSTEM community.
I am writing my ideas here to keep them separate from the chatter. I urge you to really think about this and I am open to any discussion. Another point to make is that I am not a native speaker, I have just started to write and I hope I can keep my ideas together.
Why should SteemSTEM be a centralized structure in a decentralized system?
It doesn't make any sense to me. I recently started a community from scratch. Not alone, with some others that I have only met a few days before. We gathered and birthed the group, added people and hoped they would mingle. They did not at first. Some of us had the notions of prosociality ( that is the opposite of antisocial), of selflessness and help but also a deeper insight into the way the system would work. We thought that in time, when usersbase grows we will not succeed. So we have pushed the prosocial theme forward, helping one another. I am a keen analyzer, so I did a lot of research into the growing communities like the ones in the Philippines and Indonesia. They are highly successful at doing it because of the approach (their cultural background is such).
A centralized structure can't work for SteemSTEM, not anymore. Science should be fun, science should be rewarding and should be promoted to many.
Benefits of decentralization of the curation effort
To properly understand what is going on now we have to look at the following graph:
This is a faulty system since it doesn't push the community service to the authors. They get their rewards from a single source so any interaction between them is done only on a direct grow-right-now level. The curators are unheard of ( I am personally guilty of this too, I had no idea who the curators were). It is my problem and I apologize to them but it is also how the centralized system works. Sure, there are some selfless and prosocial people here as well as everywhere but let's see how we could improve this feeling by decentralizing the effort.
There are many benefits of such a system:
- The authors must know that growing in a decentralized way is much more profitable in the long run. It's just economics, it makes you be supportive of the community because in a year that 0.01$ vote you got when you taught that newbie how to format his article and promoted him from 0.05$ to 2$ reward per post will grow and you will also benefit from his growth. Think of the 20 newbies you help that will become dolphins in a few years of sustainable growth, instead of relying on a couple of people to secure delegations for you.
- The voting power would be divided between SteemSTEM and the main curators. You, management guys know if the curators are trustworthy with the extra voting power on their hands, but I think they are.
- SteemSTEM will vote for its own curators content, supporting them and growing them rapidly. They do community service, they deserve the votes (if the quality is good-which for a curator is almost always is).
- Frees up valuable time for the current centralized structure. Yay! You guys get to live!
- Curators having good results (Quality and Vests), will get more involved. They will get more attention from the authors because they are more exposed and have more power to give. Everyone will know who they are.
- Some authors will leave because of the extra workload to get paid, but some will stay, hopefully most. Hence the "SteemSTEM decanted"
- After pushing this prosocial behavior as the new normal, the newcomers will take it for granted and expand on it, they will fit into the picture. This is what Steem is, a place to fit in, follow common sense rules, but don't impose any rules by force. The ones willing to be prosocial will take off quickly, being an example for the others.
I will be here regardless of the rewards, this is a great place for me and for the future. That being said I want to expand a little on the "some authors will leave" I added before: The reality is that prosociality works best when you have the basic needs taken care of. I am sure that some of you are in great need of help and you would be even better at writing contributions. I promise you that any time you spend here will be rewarded by me and the ones that back me. I think you are being the backbone of the future for us and I know that time is something you have the least of. I know how hard is trying to balance between finding a job or working hard for your family and justifying writing articles for SteemSTEM. Stay with us and give us the little time you have and you will progress. And you will be happy in the future for sticking.
A message for SteemSTEM backers
All communities have stress tests, some planned, some not. I think this was unavoidable and I would have raised more alarms in time. I wrote extensively on what Steem can do for the communities, and I wrote about decentralization before. I was aware of this problem. Mentalities need to change and I think we are at the forefront of that huge shift. But we are scientists, we have the tools to analyze and steer this community. Continue backing us up, give us the tools to do so and we will change the world.
A message for better-established authors
Don't be afraid to buy more Steem. Power yourself up and promote that fellow author by voting him with your new power. I have bought 45 Steem a few days ago and I will buy more today! Buying will increase the value of the token and will drive the rewards up for you also. Only invest what you can afford to lose but I think that putting the money where our mouth is will prove beneficial for the community.
Motivational Conclusion
You do realize that the world is a faulty place, without care and without sustainability. Now you have the chance to design your own community, based on fairness, work, engagement and reciprocity. An utopian community? I think not. Get more involved, comment on that article you like,actually read that article you like and leave a true comment. Nobody will judge you, nobody will talk down to you if you don't understand the science, nobody will be bothered. You will see that being part in such a community will make you feel better as a human being, this adaptable machine that is capable of much much more than what we give ourselves credit of being.