How do you explain Steem to your friends? Let's discuss this and improve it.
Personally and with SteemPeak we're trying to figure out how we can solve some of these issues.
At the end I'll give my 1 minute explanation which seems to work wonders for me
THE NEWBIE EXPERIENCE
I started this ride 7 months ago and it took me way to long to figure out Steem. I sucked at finding the right information to understand Steem AND the STEEM community sucked even worse at explaining it. haha Ok i'm over-reacting you're all lovely people and it's my fault for looking in all the wrong places. But the point is all the newbies are still looking in the wrong places. Personally I persevered and flourished. But some people give up because they are confused out of their gourds.
MUCH IMPROVED APPROACH
At first I replicated the trend of poor education taking like 1hr to poorly tell my first friends like @derekkind @sjarvie5 and @caseygrimley about Steem. But it was still better than the weeks of research it took me. 1 Hour to tell them about what I could explain in a couple minutes now. And half the stuff I shouldn't have to explain how to use the site should be almost entirely intuitive. (@steempeak is working on it)
STEEMPEAK OBJECTIVES
One of the big reasons I jumped on the SteemPeak.com team so we could work to create a front end intuitive enough that a new user could understand steem in minutes and not days. I was excited that we could use this platform to educate and answer questions about what is possible on Steem. The process to make everything more INTUITIVE is ongoing but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Problem is that many of us have forgotten what it's like to be new on the platform... for most of you it makes sense. That's why I love hearing from new users... so tell me which aspect was confusing most recently.
TIME TO INVITE?
I have tons of youtuber, blogger and photographer friends that I purposefully didn't tell about Steem because it was just too much for them and me. Now we're to the place where i can send them to SteemPeak.com and the time spent educating goes way down for me. I do tell them "steemit.com" was the original front end but they'll have a better experience on SteemPeak. And I propose they'll end up staying longer and have the tools to be more successful which is the real objective, if I those objectives would happen on steemit i wouldn't hesitate to send them there instead. But it doesn't help any of us if they come and go. We need people to stick around and create great stuff.
This image represents some of my Youtube close friends. Most of them have well over 1 million subscribers.
MY GOAL
My personal goal is to get them over here... if they come one by one they won't last because all they'll know is me but I'm slowly getting them introduced and it could be best to start them all at the same time.
As I've talked to them they need Steem to be simple not just for them but for their followers. So that's a big reason I joined @steempeak team to help create what I think they'd need to thrive on Steem. (it's getting closer)
1 MINUTE EXPLANATION OF THE ECONOMICS OF STEEM
Steem is 1.) a blockchain and 2.) a currency. As an currency it is INFLATIONARY there will be about 8.66% of additional tokens added in 2018. Where do the new tokens go? They go where those who are already users with a stake decide they should go. The votes are cast through those "typical social media thumbs-up-like interactions" we call votes ... so instead of a random heart on instagram these "hearts" act as a vote to where that day's allotment of new tokens will go. And those who have more vested have more of a say.
I have lots of recent experience using this explanation and it seems to work every time and it clicks... and it really is only 1 minute when I say it.
Figure out your audience and if you want to use the word Tokens/Units/Monetary Units or Money I'll use the word Tokens in the explanation pretending i'm talking to someone who is familiar with that world.
It's not just simple it's the correct definition. Be up front about it many view inflation as bad but we can confront it right away. Then say 8.66% inflation isn't bad when you consider there is over 100% inflation of the number of users this year already and that inflation is scheduled to go down each year.
OTHER FOUNDATIONAL POINTS?
- Steem is small only like 60-100k active users (and that means big potential)
- Any format of content. Written, Pictures, Video, Audio
- Use the word STEEM and not "steemit".
- Steemit is the name of a company and the name of one (of several) front ends... not the name of what I use.
- It's not just about how many interactions... it's also important to improve the quality of connections you make.
- You have an incentive to help your connections so their vote helps you out in the future.
- Honestly with my youtuber and photographer friends I set expectations I say in good months with daily content I make $200-400usd so... I don't want them getting disappointed.
- I make sure they know it's NOT free easy money. There's strategy and work involved.
- Lots more... let's hear some of yours.
RECAP
- 1 Minute method to explain economics of STEEM to my contacts
- What are your ways of explaining?
- What are the more confusing aspects to a new user?
I was refused by them with the most common reason, it is scam!
??
WHAT CONCEPTS ARE MOST DIFFICULT FOR NEW USERS?
Share them below.
Actually finding content that is personally interesting to me. I have my Facebook feed tailored to my interests, and it does not consist of posts from personal profiles. It consists of posts in common interest groups and pages of people and businesses who produce content or products that interest me. This also provides me with some idea of how to target an audience with my own content.
This level of customization and targeting seems to be difficult to achieve in this platform. I would love to see the layout improve to the point where our Steemit is our business and designing that business includes plentiful dynamic options, as apposed to hunting down interests and hoping to find a targeted audience.
My comment from a few days ago, in another article's comment section:
Steemit now is a little place.
I think, most of new members come to earn. Earn fast, now, a lot. It doesnt work. But they dont know. They can see the trending page, a 5 min video in dlive make 500$, a two-picture post make 200$.
And they think, its work like youtube or insta. But is not.
I think, steemit its like a marketplace, but we are the seller AND the buyer, and the market-boss give for us a money every morning, "go, and spend this". Its a little weird idea (i like it btw), so its almost unbeleviable for most of the people, and for the new users. They can see the working, and they dont believe it.
If the community can teach this simple rule for every new member, we win.
I can understand... And while I'm not really a "Steemit" user anymore I can remember using that site.
I do agree that expectations are a little bit skewed from several things.
One of the things that make us decide to not use the term TRENDING on our Steem interface.
There's still some more things we can do to help people set their own healthier expectations.
'Flagging' aka 'downvoting'. It is not meant to be personal but a form of negative feedback.
Take this as an example:
Flagged for disagreement of rewards; take this flag to cover your post as well. If you want your comment to gain visibility you can use 'declined payment' in the options.
NEW USERS REALLY STRUGGLE WITH THIS CONCEPT
I use upvoting in comments mostly as a form of curating the order of the comments. Which is another concept most people don't understand. haha
Also another concept is that you can sort by other methods other than reward (chronological and by reputation)
Good answer. Have an upvote this time round.
Hi! i m a new user , i know it's really hard to find good good education for steemit , but you are a good explainer.
I think it's mostly the differentiation between Steem, SP and SBD, along with the rewards period of 7 days which looks kinda arbitrary to a lot of people, especially when they spend a lot of time producing their pieces / posts.
i think new users have cheetah bot problem
hahaha
I believe the concepts of just posting carelessly, commenting carelessly, following carelessly, voting carelessly, and resteeming carelessly is what NEW comers/users don't understand how it can reflect on them.
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people don't decide a particular niche and everyone write about cryptocurrency.
you do not make money from steemit everyone comes on thinking they will be the next youtube style star in steemit that aint true
Steemit is a website interface ... steem is the blockchain. Steemit doesn't give ANY money to begin with
exactly my point... What did you find difficult?? i think the voting power was quite difficult to grasp at first. Also maximing profits from votes, bidbots and delegation was even harder.
You are tackling or asking the right questions and I do think there will be a point where Steem doesn't really help itself to retain new users. Steem/SP/SBD with a 7 day payout, bid bots, (not free to register), awful UI on steemit at least and a small amount of content that doesn't really attract everyone.
I think developing the new frontends that perform well compared to steemit allow new users to transition to use Steem and see its value.
(Steepshot for instagram users, Dlive/tube for youtubers etc)
I also think the worse thing is to give too much information to the user straight away and building a great WIKI/video resource for all the information would be beneficial. Linking Steem based communities in all the discord channels and groups that might make the new user feel interested in contributing to a particular cause is paramount to user retention.
Although the amount of hand holding you have to do for a new user - if they aren't interested they soon find it easier to drop the idea of Steem.
Contests are always a great tool to keep users coming back! :) The 1500 SBD prize for writers for Steem Monsters is amazing.
Hey thanks appreciate the feedback. And extra points for keeping the words steem and steemit seperate and used correctly. hahaha
Steem/Steemit is used interchangeably by many people unfortunately. Extra points yay! :)
Blame the teacher -not the student!
I'm thinking of doing a starter guide that will be ready for new users I invite that contains enough information to get them started and understand how they can make best use of the blockchain. I'm not great at writing content in the slightest but want great content creators success on its many platforms.
Something like a condensed FAQ to get them signup quickly and staying for good :)
1. Steem New User Guide ( First few weeks )
2. Active User ( If they are seeking more info or are doing well)
Do you think there would be more interest in additional invite services like Steem Invite and Anon Steem?
Steemit allows you to do the things you're already doing on other social media sites but you get a financial incentive to put out good content.
Instead of getting meaningless "likes", upvotes have an actual monetary value that you can cash out once your post is 7 days old.
Now for the confusing part:
I hope that helped someone!
Much love <3
@Chiren
Yeah I still wonder how early to drop all that on them. haha
Also i wonder how we can use the interface to make it more intuitive.
STEEM POWER? (they don't get this)
... do we really need to call it that? We could change it to say something different:
SBD
Yeah we should stop telling new users SBD is worth around $1USD
We can tell them they get two currencies when they get rewarded for posting... YAY! ( they may find that interesting there's 2 and not 1 but it's still inuitive.
VOTING POWER
Yeah this isn't inutitve enough in my opinion it needs to have a name that educates the user.
Thoughts?
STEEMIT
Well for my big influencer friends the only reason for me to mention steemit to them is so they don't get confused if someone links to a steemit.com URL. I'll let them know there's a couple places to view the content of STEEM because otherwise they could get real confused some day.
And honestly we can do that tomorrow if there's a really good solution.
I think a good fit for STEEM POWER would be INFLUENCE. That is a word everyone would understand. I think both in STEEM POWER and VOTING POWER the 'problem' relies on the 'POWER' word. That's a gaming word, IMO.
I still don't know what would be a good replacement for VOTING POWER though.
it was take long time to understand the basics terminology of steemit
It's really hard to explain steem to new users.
But STEEM is a currency
SBD is a currency
These are basically money.
Steem power is locked money. It is like you can invest into something.
The more steem power you have stocked up the more your upvote is worth.
You can always take your steem power back into steem but that will take 13 weeks. you get 1/13 every week.
Steem power creates bandwith for you, so you actually can make posts and comments.
You have voting power what will go down every time you vote someone making your vote worth less.
But over time that voting power regenerates by itself.
Are those the points you like to go with? I'm not sure if those would have been the right ones for me when i started... we need some newbies to come in and let us know.
The best kind of explanations are the ones that empower the learner to figure out the rest of their questions themselves. so trying to work on that.
WOW. steampeak has some excellent features. Thanks for sharing. I love the dashboard. All the things like voting power in one spot.
hey, dude @jarvie you are doing good to helping new users .
and obviously i also agreed to you but there is a problem that is i didn't get you title bro that why education has been bad for new users ??
also i want to tell you that i becoming #fan of you .
because you are a great #blogger..
Maybe could have worded that different... but i did want to challenge people to share how they think things could be better. I am a fan of revisiting and rethinking how things are titled. So maybe I'll think about it again.
UPDATE: the direction of the post has moved in a particular direction that made me also want to change the title. So thanks for the push.
I wrote this explainer piece 8 months ago, which was well received.
Like anything, there are a few things I'd put slightly differently now, but I think it stands up reasonably well.
I had an excellent response yesterday actually; using desert nomads as an analogy.
Living on sand has limited what we can build, we've always just had tents; but some guys have dug down and found bedrock, so now we have a foundation to build huge, permanent structures online.
So far, they're only small, from a distance they don't look much different to the tents; but the potential is there to build amazing new structures we've never imagined before.
That's my blockchain go-to. If they follow that okay, I branch off into Steem specifically.
I love your piece @mattclarke, it's so helpful, I joined Steemit moths ago and I still don't have a clue, I only wrote the #introduceyourself blog and upvote every now and then when I like something, but I do everything just because, I've read a lot of information but like @jarvie says I guess I've looked in the wrong places. It's all very confusing for me for several reasons, like I'm not an englishnative speaker so many times I get lost on translation, I know nothing about criptocurrencies even when I somehow have managed to get bitcoins and have some steem but I don't know what to do with that. I have so many doubts that I would never end if I start asking but I'll follow you both @jarvie and @mattclarke and I'll read every word you write for now on and maybe, MAYBE a hundred years from now I'll undestand something :-D thank you very much
Stay curious and you'll do fine.
You don't need to understand the nuts n bolts (I certainly don't), just be kind and supportive and insightful and it'll all work out.
And don't lose your password.
Haha how funny I take it the person you were explaining it to was very creative / imaginative?
Quite clever but she's convinced herself she's not 'tech-savvy', which is a pity.
You can understand the concepts without knowing how to code.
It can be daunting to learn new stuff, but if you're always last to learn stuff you're never going to benefit from information asymmetry.
@jarvie Steem blockchain powers numerous continuous substance like Steemit, and is controlled by network individuals all around the globe. To help ensure them against bots and name squatters, a little expense is charged to make new records.
Are these the 3 points you like to point out to your friends the most?
I love hearing which points people point out the most.
Am a new user here.
Yet, i want to know more about steemit
Well my first advice is one It took months to learn: Steemit is just an interface... it's STEEM the blockchain that is important.
We're working to make SteemPeak.com an interface to STEEM that will empower new users like yourself. So it doesn't take as long as it took me to learn what's going on here.
I really enjoyed this post!!! Thank you! Loving SteemPeak...now...thanks to you and this post. re steemed! We are down south...in the St. George area. Your photography...is mind blowing!!!!!!!!
Oh another Utahn awesome... there aren't too many of us. @caseygrimley @kaylinarts @dkid14 and @derangedvisions come to mind
sweet! thanks for the links to their blogs. following them now also. so inspired!!!!
one thing that would help new users (maybe as a beginners mode of steempeak) is mouse hover explanation of what the buttons do.
I'm with you. Which buttons are most important?
For sure some of the financial stuff...
But which ones are most important?
The upvote button! It should at least remind you how much voting power you have atm, and remind you it will decrease.
Generally speaking the most similar experience new users (as myself) have using social media is fb, or tw, or maybe ig, where liking is free. If I read somewhere that I can get rewarded for upvoting, I'll just do it everytime I can -- I actually did, the first time I got into Steemit.
It would be awesome to fully understand the dos and don'ts before you start liking anything.
I am appreciative of this tutorial. I agree it is counterintuitive for new users. I am feeling excited and motivated as I follow you and steempeak.
Well good... it's still gonna take some time. But the goals are in place. Please feel free to let me know if there's anything that confuses you about STEEM or SteemPeak that way we can polish this experience for those who come later.
Good post, man. I've really loved stumbling across steempeak, and it's made the whole steem experience a lot better. It's a far better first introduction to steem than steemit.
Regarding explanations, steem, like all cryptocurrencies and blockchains, but to a bigger extent because it aims to attract regular social media users, suffer from the highly technical nature of their implementation. When steem gets wide adoption, people are going to be losing their keys all over the shop. They already are. I'm not sure that there is an answer to that, but it's a big hurdle for retention of new users. People also don't get blockchains. People always ask me about ads on steem, and when I tell them there aren't really any, they assume that there will have to be to fund the cryptocurrency. Then I have to explain to them monetary systems and how crypto works. At this point, they are in a stupor, lol.. :)
I see real problems for broad scale adoption. But having said that, as others start to see that steem bloggers are making real fiat money (after conversion), then they are likely to care less about what goes on under the hood, as long as they can get some of that cash themselves. But keys are going to be the real problem. At least going forward each successive cohort of adopters are going to be more tech savvy than the last lot, so hopefully will be able to manage using a key/password store of some sort.
edit: Oh, and SBD. I can't even explain that shit.. ;)
K thanks those are great ones to point out.
KEYS
(Something SteemPeak should work on educating users about... obviously we want to have a login with POSTING solution.)
ADs
Trying to see if there's a way we can explain why we don't need it I guess.
SBD (covered that one in another comment... I'm just going with yay we get another money. isn't that fun?) haha
Regarding the ads, regular people (i.e. most people) don't understand where money gets its value. They think for a cryptocurrency to have value, it must have real fiat invested into it. And while that certainly helps, it's not the primary way a currency maintains value. Trust and utility are the primary ways, IMO. But trying to explain this to people who think fiat is some sort of mystical object handed down by the gods is a challenge.. ;)
I'm vaguely remembering how I used to tell friends about the No Ads thing much more often now I kind of take it for granted. So i'm glad you reminded me that this is something a non-user would actually find interesting or even be confused by.
I am struggling a lot with this platform want to put my self in great position guys please help me what should I do to gain high reputation and Steem power. Is it worth buying upvote from bots?
Content (good blog posts)
Connections (Give people a good
Capital (Aka cash investment into the system)
Consistency (Stick with it it takes time like it should there is no get rich quick here)
Thanks for the kind advice I will stick myself with that.
Congratulations for such an excellent post friend @jarvie keep going, from #venezuela supporting your work in #steemit ...
thanks and good luck there in Venezuela. Stay strong!
@jarvie sir i'm a new user on this platform n i want to grow. I also want to invest some money on steemit. But is it sure that it would really worth it?
plz reply because i also want to grow like you. Thanks
Well i shouldn't be giving financial advice to someone I don't know.
So i'll just say that I personally invest money into Steem. Because i see personal benefits for myself AND because I'm willing to wait long term for that investment to increase... and I have the belief it will.
However there's something I'd like to point out... many new users don't understand the difference between STEEM and Steemit ... in fact I didn't understand it correctly for a LONG time.
There is a company that creates code called Steemit INC and there's a web interface a whole lot of people use called steemit.com
I'd get in the practice of not using Steemit unless you're referring to that particular web interface. (There are several others that are part of steem)
thanks for your kind information
Congrats, you made the #steemitminute for today!
Click the Image Below to see the Video!
if you ask me, i would tell a new user that steem is a platform where if you can invest some money, then you can market your content better. In lots of sites you have to invest time/money in making the content and try to earn on ads. On steem you have to invest money in promoting yourself or your content.
Great explanation ;)
thanks
@jarvie
To teach beginners or new users it is very difficult. Because he will know anything about it. We have to explain it everything in detail.
hi there!!!!
great post because all new users sometimes they don't know how steemit works, always is important to find help to success into this community.
good luck!!!!
have a great day!!!
nice and great information for new user. can i join your community ???
Sir i am a beginner and unable to upload video on dtube help me sir
I don't know much about dtube ... sorry. Are there dtube videos that explain how? haha
@jarvie nice work. this is inspiration for us.
@jarvie very nice work keep it up friend. thank you for telling about steemit 👍
very interesting post :D
You got a 26.71% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @jarvie!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
You got a 79.58% upvote from @upme thanks to @jarvie! Send at least 3 SBD or 3 STEEM to get upvote for next round. Delegate STEEM POWER and start earning 100% daily payouts ( no commission ).
I have recently started here, and thr are tons of questions..i amm reading articles and other blogs everyday to understand, ways of connecting and trying to be active, but I am still trying to figure out the best way to convert my steem in my currency and when is the best time to do so.. I recently read one can buy steem power and is it a good thing, not that I want to buy but would like to know my options....its all new, so many new terms everyday.. So taking my time, going slow and trying to do my best. I liked your article.. Informative! Thank you
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yeah i can understand the struggle... i think we all faced it.
So you're saying that right now the concepts of
Seems like a lot of the questions are often about the economics of steem, which is understandable since most other social media don't involve everyday users into economics. haha
Well thanks for the input
nice
All things considered, regardless i'm attempting to comprehend the steemit diversion, here and there it looks excessively entangled, making it impossible to me. Likewise, steemit's downpart it is difficult to use for amateurs and in a hurry. STEEM, SBD, Power all are mistaking ideas for new clients.
I am following you
Sir, I would really appreciate if you can support people like us. Your little help will help us grow too.
Looking forward to hearing soon from you. Thank you.
https://steemit.com/money/@moneymakingguru/how-to-earn-money-from-whatsapp
one thing that would help new users (maybe as a beginners mode of steempeak) is mouse hover explanation of what the buttons do.
one thing that would help new users (maybe as a beginners mode of steempeak) is mouse hover explanation of what the buttons do.
Fantastic work with this one, kudos
Mam Can I join your community ?
You really capped it off . Nice
bro great initiative and great education about the steemit platform , I wish i can also do the same as you have done in short time.thank you for this update
Haha 7 months you consider a short time... I really wish I had understood everything way faster than i did.
I hope others understand it much quicker than I did.
I'm a newbie and after reading this I m hoping to move forward
Can I resteem it?
Yes... also do you think we should rename it from "resteem" to "reshare"
Reshare is a lot more intuitive in my opinion.
Also I only can help make that happen on steempeak.com
But i don't think a steemit.com user would be confused if it was called "reshare"
we cant explain in 1 Minuit about Steem bro
the most sought after by the new steemian is how to improve reputation in a short time, it turns out that after visiting from account to account the international steemian can be concluded that quality posts and quality comments can help a person steemian to quickly grasp a high reputation
Wow
Great
You have voting power what will go down every time you vote someone making your vote worth less.
But over time that voting power regenerates by itself.
Does that concept make sense to you or is there any way of explaining it that works better than others?
When you have voting power you're Pacquiao, eveytime you vote it's like you're in a fight, the more you fight/vote the less strenght/voting power you have, making your punches/votes weaker everytime until you're done, you have to rest, wait your strenght/voting power comes up and then you start over, no?
newbie here and thanks for this post!
just in time 😊