Can the Steemit Model Displace Facebook?

I love Facebook. But I love it from a place of hate, if that makes sense. I would be overjoyed to see the company behind fade into oblivion. When I first learned of Steemit, the thought occurred that this could be achieved more easily than I'd imagined.

Don't get me wrong, I think that Facebook is brilliant! I was living in Japan in 2011 and, after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in the Tohoku region, Facebook was an extremely useful tool for coordinating emergency aid and the subsequent recovery and economic revitalisation efforts. It was easy for form groups that shared information that could empower people.

It's usefulness is broader than that, though. Besides the obvious advantages it provides in acting as my main news feed and keeping me in touch with family and friends, most of whom are thousands of miles away, I've also used it to gain a deeper understanding of people who aren’t like-minded.

We Deserve Better

The platform is great, but not the company. I’d rather not have any dealings with people who behave as though privacy is an unwarranted privilege. I’m not the only person who feels this way. Pro tip – talking about how despicable Facebook are is a great icebreaker when starting conversations with people at meetups, conferences, standing in line at the supermarket or on Facebook.

I remember the anticipation when Google+ was about to be launched. People thought that a viable alternative was at hand and that there would be an exodus to the new platform. Unfortunately, as social platforms go, it wasn’t very sociable. Google+ circles were too far removed from the extremely useful Facebook groups.

The World wants a viable alternative to Facebook.

The World would be better with a viable alternative to Facebook.

Having features that compare favourably with those of Facebook isn’t sufficient to make the new platform a viable alternative. People won’t join unless they believe that their friends will join and they don’t want to risk losing face by inviting everyone they know to join a cut down version of the same thing.

There needs to be another reason for joining. An undeniably positive reason. An idea that people can buy into and sell to their friends. Something that will make them look good if they’re the ones to bring it to the attention of others.

How Alternatives Become Viable

We need a platform that we can gamify with a cryptocurrency which is earned (mined) by posting content that receives ‘likes’ or comments, or by commenting on other people’s content. If they get paid to do something that they already do at every available moment, why wouldn’t they join and encourage their friends to do the same?

If having their acquaintances on the platform makes it easier for people to post content, why wouldn’t they invite all of those acquaintances, too? If it makes them look good to show people how they can make money for being sociable, why wouldn’t they try to convince the World?

We can break the monster’s back.

Steemit Has Shown The Way

Steemit has shown us how this can be done. They've gamified their service with a cryptocurrency and they’re a viable alternative to platforms such as Wordpress, but not (yet) an alternative to Facebook. I found out about Steemit when one of the channels I watch on You Tube (check out @projectdiaries on Steemit) made a video about it and encouraged people to join.

Applications to join the platform need to be approved, which helps to mitigate issues with scaling, but also creates a sense of exclusivity (applications also receive an automated response to tell people that they’re going to be early adopters once approved).

If this is going to be done, it has to be done now.

Do you think that Steemit should broaden its service or if there's an existing alternative to Facebook that would be worth approaching with this idea. Should they create their own currency or use the Steem crypto? Let me know in the comments.