Reframing Steemit for User Adoption
Introduction
A lot of user experience is fundamentally built on top of what they are expecting. In this article, I am going to explore and propose a different way to frame Steemit to help a new user have to proper mindset to deal with the complexity of rules and mechanisms of the Steemit ecosystem.
The Problem: Not Quite a Social Media...
One of the thing that seperates Steemit from other social media platform is the cognitive load it puts on people. Usually when one sign up to Twitter, Reddit or Facebook, the user expect something as simple as 1-2-3. The rules are fairly simple.
Sign up, Post, Get Reach and Influence.
With Steemit, we have to deal with the fact that there is not a 1 to 1 correlation with the # of votes and rewards, SteemPower, Steem, SteemDollars, withdrawing funds, acquiring funds, the curation mechanism...so on and so forth. Everyone here know how much info one must digest in order to just kind of understand what's going on here.
When people come to Steemit with the expectation of going on a social media website they find themselves overloaded with information. Even though the lure of reward is there to help him get educated...it is an uphill battle.
Reframing
Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives.
So how about reframing people's experience into something that will equip them to face the mountains of information one has to digest in order to fully comprehend Steemit?
Here is my suggestion
I think we should reframe Steemit has as a game. The game consist of building reputation through good content and good curation. People can get into guilds of content creator and/or content curator. One has to learn the rules in order to win. He must build alliances, build an audience and bring value to the platform.
WHY?
So here is what every gamer has in mind when coming to a new game:
- "I must learn the rule"
- "I'm probably not going to be good at first"
- "With patience I will get better and earn more rewards"
A Seemless Message of Gamification
If people think it is a good idea, then the "gamification messaging" would get started right from the first contact. From the top header, to the sign up, carried through the beginner's walkthrough all the way to the user writing his first post. Then by adding extra badges for completing "quest" one can move ahead in becoming a highly value member of the Steemit community.
Conclusion
This is just an idea that I had to get out of my head while it was there. I am curious to know what you think of gamifying Steemit in order to get people in the right "mindset" to take on the task of learning everything there is to know to have a great experience on Steemit.
@kevinwong is one of the first that proposed to see/threat steemit as a game !!!
( @dana-edwards insist in GAMIFICATION of steemit a long time a go as well!)
I think also that GAMIFICATION is one key of steemit success!!!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@kevinwong/submit-steemit-to-the-steam-platform-because-why-not
https://steemit.com/juststeemit/@kevinwong/steemit-an-mmorpg-based-on-real-life-wow-so-rad
funny...seems like the idea is floating in the air :-) Great minds think alike
I was about to reply the same thing (I was away yesterday and only saw this post today). ^^
You just described exactly how I think about Steemit in its current form. It's a social media game and if played correctly has rewards. The fact that the game can lead to monetary rewards is just a bonus.
This idea of reframing it as a game when introducing new users is a good idea. People love games and will "work" to get better at playing a game if they are having fun.
I have managed to get to almost 8000 Steem Power in just under 3 months playing this game and have converted some of my points into about $500 USD just to show my friends this "imaginary money" can indeed be exchanged into "real" money.
The funny thing to me is all money is "imaginary money" when you really think about it.
Muy buena tu explicación pero soy nueva en esto y aun no logro entender bien como es el tema de los valores de mi billetera y para que sirve cada cosa ?? @luzcypher Followed and voted! You follow me @Sandra16
This is a really good idea and has been suggested by other people too. I think the gamification would reduce the cognitive load by introducing well researched psychological reward principles into the system. There is a reason that casinos, gambling sites and mobile gaming tend to use such systems - i.e. they work, and they can make the learning stage a lot more fun.
Interesting concept. I never see steemit this way, but you explain it simple and idea is very good. Everybody will lower expectations and try harder to become successful.
yup...interesting.
If it had been 'framed' that way when I first saw it I'd have passed it by without a second glance.
I'm not interested in games.
Even if its a game where you can make money?
If I see the word "game" I pass on by.
I'm not interested in games.
I guess I'm a bit weird.
or so I've been told.
I don't gamble either. The best way to double your money is fold it over, and put it back in your pocket. But my sometimes traveling companion, a defense lawyer from Texas, and a certifiable genius, is mad about Texas Hold 'em, and really good at it. He says that game is 90% skill and 10% luck, but it must be expensive getting the skills.
Me too. We are to old for this, but to attract more users, especially younger make more sense.
Are you too old for poker? 😉
But gambling for money online is illegal now, and I assume that Steem is a kind of money. Recently went to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the umpteenth time, and there is a big community of expat gamblers there from the US, UK, and all over. There are casinos and private games. All legal. Texas Hold 'em is King there or maybe everywhere. I'm getting a bit off topic.
Hello OldTimer: You can't be much older than me, but let's not talk numbers.
Gambling with steem right now is more than enough for me.
Well, I hope this comes to pass real soon.i am starting to understand something's better and it is helping me notice need for reframing like you put. And look at you comment section. It is become obvious on steemit that some of #thebestpostsarecomments, thus I finding a way to #savethecomments from drowning into o invisibility!
I like to play this game, and I understand your point.
GOOD THINKING AND THANKS FOR SHARING @cryptoctopus!
I absolutely LOVE this idea. We have been talking about gamifying the different aspects of Steemit, but by gamifying Steemit itself, we will be in a position to place this website as more social and fun for any new comers.
Brilliant idea!!
Steemit needs to have a broad appeal. Some people like games, so making it appear to be one will attract them. I just hope it doesn't descend into clickbait in a dash for cash. It's been designed to prevent that. Even if a million people sign up and click on everything in sight they probably won't have enough influence to do too much damage initially
Steemit UX is not as good as it should be. Gamifying could bring a change and user experience that people need.
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Muy interesante la publicación.. @cryptoctopus Followed and voted! You follow me @Sandra16
I very much like the way you have unpacked and then rationalised the Steemit concept. The question still remains, though, is that adding or removing value? As the anecdote goes: Man driving through Ireland stops and asks the way to Dublin. The answer comes back: "Well, I wouldn't be starting from here!"
I definitely love the idea of this, but as some comments mentioned they are completely turned off the term of game (regardless if the principles still apply of not.) I completely agree that we need a better way to set expectations coming in that even though people can just jump in a post (some easier than others right now) it doesn't immediately translate to rewards and there is no doubt a learning curve, some of which is required and some that is not.
I can't remember if it was with you or someone else, but it was recently discussed of a mutable progress bar of basics (signing up to steemit.chat, setting avatar, making first post, first comment, and maybe even first cash out) which could also be offered as a small game like tutorial instead (without calling it a game, just a tutorial.)
But in the end...we're really at the point of needing to decide a target market. I'd suspect many users already here wouldn't have a huge issue with a few game like elements being subtly added, but are we looking for
[Note: Imo most people in the cryptosphere already know about Steemit and have either been here (some still here and others have left) or made up their mind that they're not joining. I don't see focusing that crowd as terribly beneficial right now.]
Over time we'll have an easier time bringing in more types of people because of having more established sub-communities, much like people that only visit the trending and specific sub-reddits. But right now, having limited resources, we do need to find that more targeted market we want to start with and make our decisions around that.
Personally, I see going after the younger, college age crowd as being our best target. They are more accepting of new technologies (like crypto and the blockchain,) they're already trained in the ways of basic computers/facebook/reddit, they don't have the instilled fear of crypto that many older demographics do, and their typically idealistic and full of passion. The other benefit of this is that we can use content already existing on here to educate the college crowd to crypto (which imo is the biggest longterm hurdle for steemit) and potentially even begin to put together material for open source education on this and other topics akin to [MIT's open courseware.)(https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm) It's worth noting I do see this same group being comprised of both active content creators and consumers.
[Please don't read this as an insult against any other groups, it's just my view of our lowest hanging and most likely group to convert over to steemit.]
If this is our target group, I'm all for the reframing of Steemit.com itself as a Social Game that can Pay you for Playing....if we are going to target a different group than this, I this it may run into problems (again like we saw in some other comments.)
Anyhoo, as always, just my 'wall of text' thoughts on the matter. Lol
Yeah, I don't think we should message it has a game but frame it like it is one. Squidoo and hubpages have done something like this. I believe they are the closest thing to what Steemit.com want to attract. Budding writers who want to earn a living by writing.
These people tend to be ready to go through hell and high water to get to their goal of writing for a living. (or extra money on the side)
If we frame it in a way that is like a game then it makes it more enjoyable for those people.