Commentary and Update: Where is the Steemit Community Headed?

Going to take a tangent from the usual art related content to reflect a little bit on Steemit and what this community is doing, and where it is hoping to go.

I recognize — as I write these words — that there are probably lots of different impression of what Steemit "should be," and that all I am offering here is merely one voice among many. Even so, it's good to sometimes revisit our hopes and expectations as conditions change.

Revisiting Our Own Hopes and Ambitions

We decided to create a Steemit account for our little gallery because we wanted something that would "do more" than a conventional blog. 

Steemit seemed like an ideal opportunity because it could serve both as a conventional blog, and as a place where we could connect with other artists and — eventually — support them through upvotes and exposure. It was always our intention that our Steemit presence would work hand-in-hand with existing social media... this is by no means the only way for us to promote the gallery.

Somewhat unexpectedly, we ended up facing a couple of setbacks in the brick-and-mortar world, which meant we were not able to power up this account as originally hoped. In fact, it has been a painstakingly slow process.

Anyway, as part of having a presence here, we were also wanting to introduce our own existing stable of artists to Steemit, in the hopes that they might find another way to generate a small sideline income stream, apart from a few pennies from Google Adsense on their blogs, and maybe having a Patreon account. Steemit held the promise of being able to be a viable Patreon alternative for artists.

Doubts in the Machinery

Getting our artists to create Steemit accounts has turned out to be much harder than expected. For starters, there is somewhat of a suspicion of any content vehicle that "pays" and — at the very least — that pays with something other than dollars-and-cents. 

"I dunno... that sounds like a SCAM, to me!"

Even when we are able to point to the Red Dragonfly's blog and share that every penny here is simply the result of publishing (what we hope is) quality content about the creative world, suspicion and wariness remains.

It's one of those funny quirks of human nature: People (artists, in particular) are struggling to scrape out a living, and yet when they encounter a legitimate way to make a few bucks (perhaps because it is "unfamiliar?"), that way is almost immediately declared to be "shady" or a scam.

Don't get me wrong, we are really enjoying the Steemit experience, but there definitely are some things about this platform that leaves a few things to be desired. 

Users, Abusers, Scammers and Criminals

Maybe it's silly to imagine that someone could create a community that would inspire people to "be their best;" I recognize that my wife and I (we have the Red Dragonfly together) are perhaps overly idealistic, giving the world credit for behavior it simply doesn't support.

The short version: When there's money involved, many people start behaving badly. And that's a great shame.

Earlier today, I found myself perusing posts around various "categories" here, and I was a little alarmed by the number of comments that were actually "phishing attempts," followed by an equally large number of "warnings" about phishing, issued by bots. 

Are we really so desperate and unconscious that we can be given a "working model" for a potentially better way to not only create content, but actually be rewarded for it... and immediately, a whole bunch of people set out to find ways to exploit and abuse the system?

Can Has Sustainability?

With our first anniversary on Steemit just a couple of months away, I find myself wondering about the long term sustainability of what we have going on here.

At least from the perspective of being in the art/creative field.

Thanks to our affiliation with the marvelous @sndbox group — many thanks to @voronoi and @hansikhouse for all your hard work! — we have managed to do fairly well, thanks to an organization that legitimately curates quality content.

However, I look around and watch people who can barely write their way out of a bag use bots to upvote their own content to rewards that are five times what we make on post of our posts.

Regardless of whether I am personally upset by the hypocrisy of Steemit calling itself a "social content" site, in view of what dwells in the "Trending" feed, my deeper question remains how can I justify pitching Steemit to our artists as a venue where they can create quality posts about their art, be seen, and be rewarded?

What do I tell someone who might spend a couple of hours creating a beautifully artistic article only to get rewarded 50 cents, while someone posting a stupid meme that's already been going around the Internet for six months gets a $50.00 reward? 

How do I "SELL" that?

I'm not sure that I can.

And So, We're Still "Waiting and Seeing"

Honesty is usually the best ticket, in the long run.

And so, what we do is keep going forward; we keep looking for others who want this platform to develop in a similar direction as we do. 

When someone asks, we phrase our replies a little differently now; sharing that Steemit IS a brave social experiment, and choosing to be part of it might be rewarding, and it might not. But the truth is that here — just like in the external world — "Money Talks."

Those who have it enjoy many ways to get richer; those who don't... have few ways to make progress. 

The greater question in my mind becomes whether those who create legitimate content — which in turn makes Steemit an attractive venue — will eventually grow tired of seeing their efforts go unrewarded, leave the site, and leave behind only a quagmire of spammers and scammers... along with a Steem coin that's only worth a few cents?

Only time will tell.

Points of Hope: It's Not ALL "Gloom and Doom!"

Of course, there are lots of marvelous things about Steemit, not least of which is the great sense of community and camaraderie among those who have found — or created — their own mini-communities within the Steemit ecosystem.

I also find hope in the promised "HiveMind" and Communities features which are allegedly in the pipeline from the developers. I'd like to think it will help make quality content discovery an easier process... and hopefully enable those of us who enjoy reading and curating to have an easier time sorting through what is here, including the ability to "unsort" all the thin, spun and spammy content.

Last but certainly not least, I am finding a glimmer of hope in the increasing number of "community based" witnesses getting started these days. Perhaps they mark the beginning of a new direction for Steemit.

I certainly hope so. Because this place still has SO much potential!

Thank you for reading! Red Dragonfly is a proud member of the @sndbox creative initiative.

The Red Dragonfly is an independent alternative art gallery located in Port Townsend, WA; showcasing edgy and unique contemporary art & handmade crafts by local and worldwide artists. All images are our own, unless otherwise credited. Where applicable, artist images used with permission.