Urdu community Contest / S2W1 – How Steemit Compares Other Social Media Platforms? by @jehoshua-shey

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OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Modern day communication has advanced to the point where distance is officially no longer a barrier. Thousands of people in different parts of the world can now congregate in a group while still in their respective locations courtesy of the internet and powered by social media platforms.

As at when we first thought we made a breakthrough in mass communication, communication at best was only one-to-many. Then, newspapers and billboards were popularly used to send messages to lots of people. Radio and television broadcasts would later come with realtime information but not much else was improved until... wait for it... Social Media.

Social media was formed from the concept of groups and forums. It sat on the internet and connected people in different places together. Initially, only a few people could be connected at once but as more discoveries were made in ICT, the capacity increased. Today we have varied social media platforms where people can be connected to communicate in realtime. These variations stem from the different features of each social media platform.

MY MOST USED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

My most used social media platform is Facebook from Meta. I spend more time on this social media platform because it offers so much. The features of this platform makes it pass as an all in one. Blogging, forums, channels, video sharing, messaging, Facebook has it all. Interestingly, Facebook's parent company Meta, also has other platforms that focuses more on some aspects of social media like WhatsApp for messaging and forums.

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BENEFITS I DERIVE FROM FACEBOOK

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I'm mostly on Facebook for infotainment, entertainment, news and updates from my friends.

• Finding interesting infographics and informative and entertaining video clips are one of the benefits I derive from Facebook. Via Facebook watch, I can access these video clips.

• Another benefit I derive from Facebook is getting valuable updates from friends and family. They posts their updates on their wall and I see them on my timeline. By this, I know what's happening to them. Recently, I got to learn of the speakers who will be speaking in a forthcoming young adult conference. Glory to God.

• Facebook is one of my banking channels and this is one very important benefit I derive from Facebook. As a UBA customer, I have the luxury of social banking in Facebook with Leo, the bank's bot. This AI does a lot including getting me a customer rep online when I have issues.

_{Screenshots of benefits derived from Facebook (taken from my Facebook account)}

SHOULD I SPEND MORE TIME ON STEEMIT INSTEAD?

Steemit is a web 3.0 social media platform. For starters, that's social media on steroids. Benefits on Steemit go beyond getting updates and blogging or banking. Steemit empowers it's users to do what everyone craves for - earn.

Earning on Steemit is not really a function of how popular you are in terms of followers but the quality of your content (ceteris paribus). This is because the platform was designed to function based on the proof of brain consensus. It doesn't offer so much compared to some web 2.0 social media platforms like Facebook, but what it lacks in social media features it makes up in earnings 💰💰 - not that I would mind 😂.

So, back to the question. Should I spend more time on Steemit?

I probably should. With the engagement season ongoing, I get to increase my chances of earning by interacting so much on the platform, something I'm sure to not get on web 2.0 social media platforms. Matter of fact, this is my short term plan, at least while the engagement season lasts.

The earning potential of Steemit is why I think spending more time on Steemit will benefit me more than spending more time on other web 2.0 social media platforms.

HOW DOES STEEMIT COMPARE WITH OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS?

Steemit doesn't bring so much excitement to the table as a social media platform. Partly because it's decentralized. It's complex to use for a beginner and has some costs too. Steemit also has a subtle way of messaging which is quite funny considering that your messages and your money are in both one place - Steemit wallet.

In terms of features, Steemit has the community feature which is similar to forums or groups and the individual accounts could pass as channels depending on how you use it. Video sharing is possible but not quite appealing. The platform best compares to Twitter as both are primed for blogging - never mind Twitter's character limit.

Taking a census, Steemit comes behind with only a minor fraction of the population of the other social media platforms. Monthly active users are also fewer than others.

When it comes to rewarding users, Steemit stands above all other web 2.0 social media platforms as users on Steemit are handsomely rewarded for their use of the platform.

Here's a typical example. I've not been rewarded for using twitter or Facebook though I've been on the later for over 10 years. My earnings from Steemit however in less than 2 years is upwards of $4,000

_{A screenshot of my total earnings on my account - taken from steemworld}

CONCLUSION

Social media platforms have made connection between people in different places at the same time possible. The benefits range from online forums, channels, blogging and with web 3.0 variants, earning.

Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc. Control a lot of traffic monthly compared to web 3.0 variants like Steemit. Their features are also more attractive, only that they don't reward users directly except through ads. Steemit on the other hand offers rewards to users directly for using the platform.

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P.S: I invite @ononiwujoel @adorable-diala @armstrongdiho to participate in this contest

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