First let me say that Steemit is a revolutionary platform in my eyes. I know there are competitors in the wings, but this was the first and currently only one in the cryptosphere. However, just because something is first, doesn't mean it's the one to achieve widespread market acceptance. Apple wasn't the first personal computer, but rather the first successfully brought to market. Simply being first doesn't ensure long term success so we can't merely rest on our laurels.
Updates to Entice Investors AND Users into Steemit
To achieve long term success Steemit has a two primary needs of both investors AND users. Recently there has been a lot of work done on drawing investors including the latest restructuring of interest and inflation as well as presentations being put together.
On the user experience (UX) side of things we've already seen the implementation of notifications with the big upcoming one for me being the medium-like Steemit editor that will include two important features of uploading images directly into posts (without having to use a 3rd party hosting site) and a button to center items. I truly feel these updates will help a TON with new users who are used to the WYSIWYG style. Even though it's not the most difficulty thing in the world, many people have seemed 'put off' by needing the 3rd party image hosting and when I give out post templates to people I have to include html tags for centering, also very off-putting to the generic user.
With the recent interest/inflation changes, the investor pitches and the not so far off editor upgrades, I'm very excited to see the effects this will have both on drawing investors AND Users into Steem and/or Steemit. While I'm not expert enough to speak much on the investor side of things, I do know that we need Steemit to be sustainable in the long term. In my opinion this "Society" won't be world changing if the economy dries up, so something had to be done.
One other piece that I think can be used to get investors excited is the the Havin game project that @williambanks and others have been working on! Beyond just being a cool idea in and of itself, the idea behind this allows merchants to advertise their business by offering loss leader products for players, essentially tying Steemit in the small businesses as a way to market their shops. There have been many updates on this project over the last couple months with this one having a good number of screenshots available. The announcement post can be seen here. Having a way to tie the Steemit economy in with small businesses seems like it would be a strong pitch to potential investors to me.
Way's to Earn Outside Blogging
Something I'm very stoked to have seen are various options popping up for both new and veteran users to earn beyond simply blogging. I'm do believe that everybody has something to offer to the community, it's just a matter of helping draw that passion out and have a way for them to easily share it. Here is a list of existing or in development 'Earning Methods' that I'm excited about:
Streemit.Online - A Help with Attention Scarcity
Streemit.Online is going to be a Twitch or Gamer YouTube equivalent streaming site with subscriptions and tips/donations being paid directly with Steem and/or Steem Dollars. Even though I'm excited to see this for it's gamer potential (including trying to market this service to game streamers) it really can go far beyond this scope.
I see musicians giving live, interactive (via the chat) concerts, veteran users can give Steemit webinars or consulting sessions, chefs can put on a cooking show, the possibilities go on and on! In the end I foresee this as a major way that Steemit users can display their passions and expertise beyond a blog post. While interaction is possible on posts, videos and audio tracks through comments, this really isn't a real time conversation.
We all know attention spans are shorter than ever and we all know content on here scrolls by way to fast to catch it all. Having a real time interaction with a user through a live stream is an invaluable way to keep people engaged. One stream/show that I know I'd love to see is @justtryme90 as a modern Mr. Wizard (if anyone remembers this old science show for kids) or a live concert by @jessamynorchard where song requests can be tossed in there.
(Why not beat Synereo to the punch on this one!)
Streemit.Online is still being finished up by @klye who's been hard at work on this for a while now. He's come a long way since the Announcement Post on this and you can see how far it's come in the latest update.
Keep an eye out for when this project fully launches and a huge shoutout to @klye for putting this all together for us!
Operation Translation
Operation Translation that was started by @papa-pepper and has had @stellabelle and @merej99 join in. This project allows ANYONE to translate a post from these 3 users into another language and repost it themselves, keeping the payout rewards.
I know this isn't for everybody, but there are a number of people out there who could provide a English to another language service. This has a two sided benefit of allowing multi-lingual users to earn without creating the blog content themselves AND broadens articles into the other language areas, ideally strengthening strengthening the community as a whole rather than having rather isolated pockets of users.
[Edit: @haphazard-hstead has also been offering posts open to translations!]
PeerHub
Peerhub is a marketplace where Steemit users can list goods and services for sale for Steem Dollars! (You can also choose to accept paypal and/or Bitcoin payment options.) The listings have a wide range from original art, jewelry, books, cars, to consulting services. You can check out the announcement post of accepting Steem on this from a couple months ago here.
The one thing I'd love to see developed for this is a way to embed this Peerhub listing itself directly into a Steemit Post. I think this would be a huge benefit for those that are accepting Steem as a payment since they could 'show it off' in a cleaner way to the Steemit community. (We all know the people we lose just because they have to click a link, versus having media/listing/etc embedded.)
SteemSports
Steemsports has become the primary spot to place bets (purely as an upvote) across multiple sporting events including American Pro and College Football, Soccer, Mixed Martial Arts, Hockey, Basketball, the list just goes on. In my opinion it's a breath of fresh air adding adding an element of fun to Steemit.
My excitement about @steemsports is on multiple levels. First, it's quick, easily digestible content (especially if you just scroll down and place your bet) that for people like me make me actually watch for the final scores to see if I won. Second, this is a way for new users and minnows to generate SP! Users with lower Steem Power are limited on curation rewards (since there's a minumun of .001 to get listed) and this is one of the ways they can immediately come in and get 1-2 SP per winning bet!
These require no payment (only an upvote) and all winnings are paid out as Steem Power so I'm not worried about people merely using it to 'cash out' with. @giftedgaia and myself also mention in our weekly podcast who we bet/voted on for the UFC events. We can't all be intellectual all the time...this is a very pleasant break for me.
[Edit: @bola @thegame @safecrack @forever-gala and @runridefly also run games that reward steem to winners! You can also frequently find these under the games and/or contest tags.]
Steemit Faucet
I've seen the @steemitfaucet account going for a while now and am rather fond of the idea. Simply for resteeming a post like this will get a user .001 Steem. While this isn't a huge amount of money at once, I do feel these faucets can be used to help draw in, teach, and begin building newers uers. This is also an additional way for somebody who doesn't feel they are a blogger or writer to grow.
Steemit's Identity Crisis and Things I'd Like to See
In the Jim C. Collins book "Good to Great" I still remember the part stating it's better to be the BEST in a specified area/niche, rather than be mediocre across many areas. I feel that Steemit needs to be able to focus a specific target area after this current round of major development including items I've already discussed but also things like having an avatar which is now available on Golos and a profile page (which I'd be happy enough simply being able to pin 1 and only one post to the top of my blog to serve this purpose.)
We have to be able to reach out beyond the crypto-sphere and begin to entice over users currently on other social media platforms. To do this we need to make things a bit easier to use on the front-end (like enhanced editor with direct image uploads) for content producers, but we also need to better draw in content consumers. There are limitations to solely having creators. To assist with the consumer oriented user they need ways to earn outside of creating blog posts, which I listed a number of options above. Another major piece to this is to have a resurgent focus and value applied to comments. Since we've gotten the vote slider bar comment payouts have taken a nose dive (in my opinion.)
The major unique draw to Steemit once the allure of getting paid fades away in the community, which overall is the most honest, helpful and supportive I've seen in a long time. Sure this may be diluted as the user base grows, but that can be one of those 'good problems to have when that time comes.' We should keep focus on motivators for users to interact and build real relationships with each other, which really is the core of this place.
To supplement this I would love to see Steemit gamified! Have little achievements and badges like we see in games like World of Warcraft (which has a ton of psychology built in where players constantly have the next 'low hanging fruit.') Beyond this games in development like Steemstars can be used to help users interact in a fun way while using game mechanics to subtly teach them skills that benefit them on Steemit itself (such as building followers through being friendly and marketing yourself.)
We can even go low-tech route on this simply by bringing in potential Steemit users into Steemit Gamer Nights or Steemprentice Hangouts to either just have fun or be able to ask questions prior to joining the site.
Like everyone else around here I want to see Steemit succeed and change lives in a positive impactful way. This was something I have needed to share for a little while and feel free to comment on the ideas I put out, ways to make things better, or other projects to include.
Image Sources:
Hands
Rest of images came from the associated and linked Steemit posts and projects.