Steemit gives us an opportunity to engage with a community and get paid for it, which is why most of us are here. But what if it didn't? What if tomorrow there were no more payouts? Would everyone leave?
@Dragosroua is challenging Steemians to a 30-Day Writing Challenge. For day #17, he asks, "If There Will Be No Money Paid On Steemit, Would You Still Be Around?" Here's my response:
Would I Still Be Around if No Payouts on Steemit?
Before diving into my answer, I think it's important to point out a difficult truth to accept -- I would never have signed up for Steemit in the first place if there were no payouts. But I am here now, and I've received many benefits outside of the SBD and SP I'm rewarded with in exchange for writing, commenting, resteeming, and more.
So would I stay on Steemit all of a sudden stopped paying contributors?
The answer to one question would determine if I would stay or leave -- why? Why would Steemit cancel all payouts?
Did Ned and the team move to a model where they receive all of the revenue instead of rewarding contributors? Is it a temporary move made for a specific purpose?
Since one of the main purposes of Steem and Steemit is to reward content creators for providing value instead of the current model that is robbing content creators, I would question why this would ever be an option for the Steemit team.
If the move was made out of greed, I don't think I could continue to participate. If there were other reasons as to why the move was made and there were still ways to give content creators value in return for their work, I would consider staying.
While Steemit does offer value to all of us outside of cryptocurrency, it's what really sets Steemit apart from Medium, Facebook, Twitter, and other networks, and the main reason we are growing. A chance this drastic would halt new signups and force many of the top contributors to find other ways to make passive income.
Previous 30-Day Writing Challenge Posts
- Where Do You See Yourself on Steemit in 5 Years
- How Many Posts Do You Write a Day and Why?
- What's Your Favorite Writing Topic?
- What Crypto Asset Will Dominate in 5 Years
- My Most Consistent Hobby Over the Past 5 Years
- Where I Believe Steemit Will Be in 5 Years
- My Favorite Morning Drink and Why
- How I Started on Steemit
- What I Would Do with 1,000 STEEM
- The Best Thing That Has Happened To Me Because of Steemit
- My Top 5 Cryptos
- The Top Reason I Stay on Steemit
- 3 Ways to Make Steemit.com Better
The fact is that people need $$$ to live in this world, so if they can't get it on Steemit, they will spend their time doing something more profitable elsewhere.
Yes, that's an excellent point. It's the reason people don't spend a lot of time on Facebook or LinkedIn -- it's a time suck and unproductive. There is time for hobbies and to play around on social media, but Steemit takes a lot of time, effort, and skill to grow on.
No I would leave steemit, if there are no more payouts.
You would no matter what the reason?
What could be the reason they will give for no payouts, I thought the system was built with payouts?
I think I agree with you, just curious. I'm not sure what a good reason would be. Maybe a government shut down the site or put it on hold so they were legally not able to payout for a period of time.
OK, maybe on this case, I can stick around.
No, I’d still be here. For one reason I like the platform and the general quality content I see. For 2 I just started learn Python through a series of posts so I need to finish that haha! Also, there’s a ton of knowledge on here on Cryptos and I’m still learning. And lastly there are some friggin brilliant minds on here and I’m sure we’d still find a way to monetize something or come up with an even better idea or way to keep the movement moving so to speak! Btw... need to get back on my Poker game! Haha! -Wonderland 😊
That's a great outlook and really good points. I know I would at least comeback to read and engage some, but would all of the people (brilliant minds) still be here as well or would they pick a platform that values their time/content better?
Hey Wonderland, we miss you!
True story, those minds may take their super knowledge elsewhere 😕. When you say that it puts me in mind of Utopian full of open source content, I’ve just discovered them and learning how their content integrates into SteemIt for those very monetizing reasons. Well, if this ‘apocalypse’ happens find me so we can figure this shit out! 😂😂😂
Miss you guys too! My time management has been terrible lately, need to make sure I am keeping up with important things like my favorite Poker League!!! Hehe! @lucksacks 😊♠️♣️♥️♦️💸🏆😂
Lol, will do! We can figure it out if that every comes. I'm always bad at it. That's right -- the SPL is what matters :-)
I actually wondered the why, too. What would cause a site who's gimmick, if you will, crypto rewards, to stop paying crypto rewards. I'm afraid I couldn't get beyond the price had crashed or something else catastrophic, like all the nodes were wiped out, so there was no more blockchain. Or Steemit Inc siphoning off all of it for something else. Greed, a project, what have you.
Any of that are tough sells to the using public, though. We've already seen what retention is like even with the promise of reward opportunity. Those of us who are here and aren't high SP aren't staying because we're raking it in, so there is something else—relationships, outlets for creativity, helping others—so I'm sure there would be plenty of people still wanting to use the platform in some way if they can. It just doesn't grow or become much of anything other than one more social site.
Yeah, really strong points. I agree. This is a great crypto and creative community that I haven't found elsewhere. The thousands of contests would probably cease to exist and I wonder how many of the whales would stay (and the creatives we love to follow and engage with).
Thanks for the comment and for visiting/reading!
Yes, I'd still shitpost on Steem without rewards. Said it from day one. I was shitposting on other sites just fine, but then one offered to pay me to shitpost, so I came to Steem. =)
Lol. Yeah, I'd find ways to still post here, I'd just spend a lot less time on Steemit than I do now.
I came for the crypto, stayed for more crypto. If there were no payouts, I would have just mined what I could then moved on.
did you not make friends here? Or you would make sure you got their details?
I've actually made many friends on Steemit over the last two years and enjoyed a lot of great content. All of which I would have missed out on if there had been no payout rewards in place to lure me in and encourage me to engage. So thank you Steemit for the payouts and expanding my world!
Thanks greg!