Incentivized Social Media vs. Traditional Social Media

For years I worked to build brands and audiences across multiple social networks, and with that experience I learned first-hand just how very little the platforms I contributed to actually valued the work I did. What I also learned was how the lack of reward often leads to a lack of interest, and this is the whole reason why the concept of social platforms taking and never giving back has left the concept of traditional social media laying on its death bed. The traditional social platform is the one who never rewards the creative minds that once made them so great; such as journalists, artists, and others. Its also the whole reason why major social platforms like Google+ were often referred to as a ghost town by the wider media, and others like Twitter have suffered from years of stagnant growth. Here we're going to take a closer look at both the incentivized and traditional models of social media, and why the incentivized model wins out, while the traditional model might as well be gone with the wind.

Incentivized Social Media:

Platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and Steemit, are good examples of incentivized social platforms that reward hard working creators for their contributions; although, they reward their contributors in vastly different ways. YouTube typically rewards its creative minds with a cut of the platform's ad revenues, while others like Steemit reward contributors with the use of cryptocurrency.

What sets these platforms apart from the traditional social model is the fact they offer real financial incentives to make use of them, and incentivized platforms like YouTube are living proof the model of rewarding individuals for their contributions works! YouTube is currently the world's second largest social network next to Facebook, and its the world's largest video sharing platform in its own right. No doubt, the enormous growth and popularity that surrounds the YouTube platform today can be heavily attributed to the fact the creative minds of the web find an interest in the platform due to its potential to reward them.

Platform's like YouTube managed to remain relevant over the long term for the simple fact they won the support of creators who saw a future in it.

Traditional Social Media:

Unlike we've seen with the incentivized model, with the traditional social model their is no inherent want or need for creators to pay such platforms any attention, and its for the simple fact their aren't as many direct incentives for them to make use of these platforms. These are the types of platforms that offer no real direct financial reward for work being done, and as a result, they fail to garner the support of creators, and of course the wider public.

As an example, one such platform would be Google+. While this platform has managed to retain a strong niche fan base, who wholeheartedly loves it for what it is, the platform has continued to suffer from long term stagnant growth and a year over year decline in public interest.

Looking back at my own work on Google+ over the last 6 years, in which I built some fairly massive communities on the platform, I have to admit, I've never financially benefited from my work, nor have I ever received so much as a simple thank you from Google, despite my years of contributions to the platform.

As I stated earlier, and I'll reiterate here, the lack of incentives often leads to a lack of interest. This is the whole reason I currently have one community on Google+ with close to a quarter million members that is now staffed with just 3 moderators, one of which is only available 2 days a week. The problem is, there's no incentive for people to do work and contribute to the management of things like communities on the platform.

Now, given the comparisons between Google+ and YouTube, and its easy to see why the traditional social models don't work.

The Challenges of Incentivized Social Media:

While incentivized social media may seem like the wave of the future, such a model also presents many challenges. For one, with the prospect of earning money, also comes the prospect of greed, deception, and fraud. In the case of YouTube, the platform's potential to earn has led to the rapid rise of rogue content creators who produce content with the sole purpose of making a fast buck.

Take for instance the recent fiasco surrounding one of YouTube's biggest personalities, Logan Paul, who posted a video of the dead body of a suicide victim in hopes of scoring a fat payday. YouTube's potential to earn has also brought about the rapid rise in mass copyright infringement, where some channels have sought to monetize on everything from cable TV shows, to music, documentaries, and more. In other cases YouTuber's have flat out ripped videos from other channels, re-uploaded them to their own, then proceeded to dump ads all over them. This is the whole reason we see such strict guidelines regarding the ability to monetize one's channel today, the bad actors have ruined it for everyone else.

The incredible earning potential of YouTube has also brought about the rise of conspiracy theorists who produce sensational headlines and preach wild stories to the public, while providing no evidence to support their claims, and all with the intent of cashing in. The facts speak for themselves, sensationalism on social media has a penchant for garnering a lot of attention, and ultimately earning a lot from ad revenues as well. The fact is, the spreading of misinformation and the manipulation of public thinking have long been profitable business models on YouTube.

And, what about Steemit? Here I am just 2 weeks into making use of the Steemit platform, and I've personally witnessed copyright infringement on a massive scale; even finding one of my own articles being scraped from elsewhere on the web and re-uploaded to Steemit with the hopes of monetizing.

Due to the Steemit platform's decentralized nature, it appears the platform also lacks any real system of moderation or accountability of its users. While Steemit touts itself as a censorship free platform, a social platform where anything goes is a recipe for disaster over the long term. At present, the only system of law and order on Steemit is actually a system designed and enforced by its user base, and often with the use of bots. Albeit, its a system of accountability that, while not being perfect, actually works quite well.

Another thing to note is that creating an incentivized model for social media doesn't always equate to being a profitable model either. Just take a look at what happened to the video sharing platform Vidme, who failed to secure ads, and relied on a tipping feature no one used; as well as Tsu, the social network that touted ad revenue sharing in hopes of building a sustainable social ecosystem. Neither model worked, and neither platform lasted.

Conclusion:

All being said, I've come to the conclusion that the traditional models for social media are not only dying, they're gasping for their last breath! The world has awoken to the ruse of social platforms like Facebook who seek only to benefit themselves, and never the people who've supported them the most. As I pointed out, the traditional models for social media often result in the stagnation or failure of social platforms over the long term due to a lack of interest from users.

While the concept of incentivized social media definitely presents its own challenges, we've seen first hand how such a model often works for the betterment of everyone involved. There's really a lot more to all of this than what was stated here, and I may come back to touch more on this subject in a later post.

Many thanks for reading! Written and published by Daniel Imbellino, co-founder of Strategic Social Networking and Gamers Bay! Connect with me on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DanielImbellino

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