Unrequited scrolls of the addicted

One of the benefits of not traveling, is that I have been looking deeper into my photo albums for images. I have tens of thousands that I have taken over the years, so there is no shortage, but there isn't always something that covers every topic I post on, so I tend to use some of my favorites several times.

I am not sure how other people choose their images, but since I use my own pretty much exclusively, they aren't always perfectly relevant. However, I think that posts that have an image of some kind are more attractive than those without, so it is better to use something.

In general, the formatting options for posts on Steemit are pretty limited and I am hoping that one day there will be more options for styling so that a blog can have a personality of its own through look and feel, kind of like what WordPress or even the simple website builders like Wix allows. But I think that many more users would be needed to make it worth implementation at this point, as I would say that not many would use it or at least, keep it consistent.

Yet, I do think that a frontend that improves the formatting options and makes it simple to build clean, smooth viewing experiences through for example templates, would do pretty well. I wonder if it would be useful for communities to have a couple of formatting template options available to differentiate themselves a little. I can imagine some of the art communities building some nice designs and I think that this is starting in some way. Possibly, there could even be a market for template themes.

Of course the thing we are lacking the most on Steemit is the viewing audience, as there is a far greater ratio of content contributors than there would be in other platforms. But, I think this is also natural due to the incentives of the platform itself, since it pays more to post than to read and to get paid to read, stake is needed, but to post it isn't necessary.

On other platforms a lot of the incentive to post has been removed, as the platforms have been monetized in a way that cuts out pretty much every user. I would predict that average users are posting less to Instagram and the like these days, even though the post counts are possibly going up. I think the reason for this is that while there was hype and incentive early and the possibility is there, most users have been relegated to consumers as there isn't the social "payoff" there once was.

It could also be that the average user is engaging more with the popular content from celebrities and politicians, rather than their friends families like they used to. The friends get "nice post" comments while the public topics get emotional responses and drama. Perhaps people have learned that the return on investing into the post just isn't worth it, so they slow down and start scrolling more themselves.

For me personally, there is value in the creation value in the doing. I literally feel better having created something for the day, much like if I had done a good gym workout or solved a problem at work. There is a physical reward for being creative and that is a lot of the attraction in my participation - not to mention there is also the psychological payoff, as the clearing my head gives me space to work on other things plus, I sleep better.

Of course, I can create "anywhere" and get most or some of these personal returns, but the added incentive of getting some financial return adds another layer of motivation, as does the chance to participate in what I (and others) consider the next evolution in the technology sector and, one that affects the economic sector heavily. IT has generated a huge amount of wealth in economies. But it hasn't changed the economic system itself - blockchain and crypto have a chance of more than just shifting the needle slightly.

I believe that the social platforms out there leverage our desire to be heard and find relevance for their own profit, but do not care whether we ourselves are healthy, unless they can make more profit on us. Using those platforms for many seems much more a cry for help than we acknowledge - and I am pretty sure that if the platforms wanted to give us a picture of just how broken we have become, they could, but that isn't good for their bottom line.

While I believe that Hive encourages creativity through the incentive structure, it also forces us to think about those bottom lines and just how they might be reached. Many people look at Hive and say, how come there aren't more people here, how come they prefer Facebook - but don't seem to question, what it takes Facebook to retain those users to keep them addicted.

In my opinion, we want a platform that people enjoy for the content and the benefits of creation, not because they have been manipulated into staying via algorithms designed to trick them into thinking they are having a good time. While scrolling through the endless feeds of people they don't care about, doing things they will never be able to do. They feel that they are in love but it is unrequited.There is no return of emotion.

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The End