I came to steemit because of the same thing like you. Money.
But today I realised, what so many of you have already realised; steemit breeds unequal opportunity and supresses objectiveness and opinion. And it was hard to swallow.
Just after the Cambridge Analytics reveal I thought "I should encourage my friends to finally join steemit, as a social media platform alternative to this manipulating shit".
Let's analyse my thought:
Steemit: A social media platform?
...steemit, as a social media platform...
I just thought it, because steemit describes itself as
Steemit is a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content. It leverages a robust digital points system (Steem) for digital rewards.
Are we sure, we can call steemit a social media platform if everything we produce is prouced for the sake of money and not community and people interested in us or our content? What exactly is the social aspect of it? Fake appreciation? Fake comments? How can we call anything social if the purpose is to expose the inequality of power between individuals in terms of wealth? People are searching for equal opportunities and criticising big social media platforms for the lack of it. Steemit is not responding to these needs and I am really sad about it.
Per se, the definition of social media is very broad, so I just can't not call it a social media platform. But maybe the definitions need a little rewrite for this new concept of monetization through self published content. The idea is new, so it may take some time to form it.
I looked at Medium and it's self description:
Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you. Every day, thousands of voices read, write, and share important stories on Medium.
Having these two business self descriptions in mind, I would like to write my own definition of what steemit is:
"Welcome to Steemit, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to the top 10% of the community. Every day, some very important voices and thousands of irrelevant voices read, write and vote to get paid for creating and curating content."
How do you like it? Leave your version of a steemit description in the comments.
A wrong place to search for objectivity and democracy
...alternative to this manipulating shit.
Yes, they collect and "rent" and leak our data so they can show us better advertisements and make people vote for idiots. We don't want this anymore. On steemit, we are safe and nobody can manipulate us. That's what I believed.
But that's just not how steemit works.
Let me quote my own comment to this article by @adigitalife ["What if steemit was a democratic system"]:
And now, let's not talk about the monetary aspect, but the impact on objectivity. This platform will never provide neutral news to the world, as the trending and hot content will always be controlled by a small group of people with defined political, religious views and determined norms and values. So how can we blame facebook for not dealing with the spread of fake news and favourising certain content, if we will NEVER be able to make steemit a neutral place for any information or view?
Steemit is the most antidemocratic digital platform I have experienced so far. Always remember: You are not worth as much as the elite. Have fun hunting the whales.
In my opinion, steemit is not an alternative to any platform. It is another type of platform that needs a new definition and will be dominated by those who have the time and resources to make the most money out of it. If you are interested in valuable stories from a broad variety of topics and alternative views, you won't be satisfied.
It's a good place for info about cryto, though.
If you want to be part of it, it is your free choice, I am trying to change steemit. I am in search of an alternative for the alternative.
So, no, I won't invite my friends to steemit. They are all equally invaluable for me. What about your friends, do you want to monetize them?