Why Steemians Don't Stick Around - The Problem With User Retention

I promised myself that I would not get into more Steemit criticism or even Steemit related posts and try to focus on my own themes. Nonetheless I feel I have to shoot this post as my last flare. I did try to participate in every single project in the platform even though my rewards were minimal in respect to the hours I have been putting in over the last few months. I never compared myself to others. I thank my dad for this invaluable lesson. I only look over my own plate.

I openly criticized whales, celebrities and every single person that was coming across as a mass bullshiter—and there are plenty in here. I seriously don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks of my posts, whether they are whales or minnows. There are many ways to be politically correct in the platform and make some ass kissing money. I chose not to ride the low wave because of my own principles. I distaste this fear of oh-no-what-if-I-get-flagged-or-unfollowed. Grow some balls people. Be yourselves.

Everything I write is a result of who I am. I would never crawl towards the pathetic level of producing whore-tier content for pimp whales. I would rather sell ass on the street.

Enough with my introductory rant. Here is why people don’t stick around on Steemit as much (beyond the usual reasons such as design from the early 2000's and Steem technicalities and crypto concepts);
 

-1- Sleezy Superficiality

A glance at most posts and you can feel the superficialism flooding like a tropical island. There is no depth, no original thoughts. Almost all posts are recycled, sensationalist ideas. It's *cheesy*. There is no individuality, no originality. New users can sense this and even though they will try their luck with some recycled content, after a while there would be nothing left to write other than random shit-posting in hope for some random whale shit-voting.

-2- WTF Reward System

We know the mantra. “At least on Steemit you make some money”. Well, not so fast. You see, an average user would join Steemit, a new community, and start comparing his efforts to the rest. After a while he will notice that his $10-$20 earnings are unfair in comparison to someone who gets $200-$300. Logic would dictate for the user to stick around since he is still profiting, but logic is not part of the equation.

The user would take an emotional decision to bail out from a platform that has no average distribution of rewards. A user will prefer to stick around in a no-profit social media space where everybody is equal, earning nothing. At least his posts there will be appreciated equally since the value will be zero. On Steemit there is an inevitable comparison because of the massive wealth gap. The only way to allow a somewhat smoother scale with rewards is if whales voted more carefully.

However, whales haven’t been voting carefully in such a delicate period. Many early investors sought and still promote their close friends. The ones who should care about Steemit, don’t. In my opinion the first 1000 active users should be treated like kings, with the power somewhat equally distributed to them (let’s say a range of $10 - $300 tops for every post), for each and every member. That would allow a smooth distribution, one a new user could work towards a goal and even invite more people in order to reach it. This, however, would only work if whales got to work together voting carefully. In a short period of time there would be swarms of dolphins redistributing their power to the new guys, while whales would keep both the eggs and the basket. Why they just want to kill the goose with the golden eggs in order to satisfy specific people is beyond me. (Unless there are other scammy motives).

What we see instead? $900 per post vs $2, even if the person has 100+ likes. How can anyone wait for new users to stick around when there is such a massive difference in rewards distribution? It’s all about the psychology of the given reward perception in respect to the culture one is involved with. As an anthropologist I can guarantee you that this is where Steemit loses most people. Any culture built on the same premise would fail immediately—and as history dictates, they did.

-3- Shady Culture

I understand that celebrities are important but most celebrities that joined Steemit are just milking the cow and the people who brought in are shit-tier. From conspiracy theorists to convicts, surely you can’t expect your average Joe to join such a culture. That’s like asking a nun to join a whore house. I am not saying they shouldn’t join but for fuck's sake, if Steemit is to move beyond the shit-coin culture, these people shouldn’t be promoted more than anyone else. How can we talk about a decentralised blog experience when there is clear favouritism with our usual crypto and libertarian heroes? And seriously. Most of them are shady as fuck.

I am not waiting for this rant to hit any ears, but like everything I write, I felt like doing it at least fot those who choose to follow me. Most minnows like me will understand my concerns and most, if not all, whales will frown upon (most likely because I am not seeing the “big picture”).

Thing is, at the end of the day, there is no “big picture” other than the one people chose to see. Basic human psychology plays a massive role in early adaptation. Steemit is not like every other social media place. People cannot even understand what cryptocurrencies are. Adapting to the user experience, money transfer and all that is already a massive hurdle for them. Imagine having to go through the culture crap as well. Social media is supposed to make people’s lives easier, not a pain in the ass.

If Steemit wants to continue as is, then the founders should reconsider the path the platform should take. Maybe transforming the platform into a crypto-anarcho-celebrity-promo-webpage where the sheeple can feed their shepherds would be a better investment. So far all I am seeing is promoted celebrities from whales and founders, taking their money and running out from the back door. You do realise how pathetic this is, right? People who were making thousands with every post are not even happy making hundreds of dollars anymore—while those who criticized Steemit still stand by your side are earning next to nothing in comparison.

But hey. Fuck it right? We are all here just to make money. Or are we?