Taking flight: forking the user base

One thing that worries me a little about society these days is how quickly people abandon ideas. I wonder if it is because a consumption culture, we design to dispose rather than repair. TVs, furniture, phones and cars all fall into this category these days.

I think the same concept is a major reason that many relationships fail as with all of the apps and social opportunities, there is always another person (or group of people) waiting around the next swipe. People are disposable.

As are platforms.

There is a lot of talk about the EOS platform coming and I have to be honest, I don't know much about it yet, many people here are excited. Perhaps it will be fundamentally better and people will be crazy to stay at Steemit but, is that going to be the reality? It is hard to tell at this point. The problem with it all is that there are question surrounding it and the answers seem designed to create FUD in the system to make people second guess investing either here or there giving it a 'wait and see' vibe.

A major problem at Steemit is distribution and even though in some ways it was happening, there are other actions happening that counteract it. @dan has talked about better distribution on his rival platform and where early adopters and investors don't have an advantage but, how is this going to be achievable considering some people have already bought in very heavily. Many of those people are the same people holding early stake here.

Of course, he could sell all of the early investors out and grant all even stake too I guess to level the playing field. He is a smart guy though so I am sure he has some ideas. What would be interesting is that if his platform demanded verification. Would you be willing to verify openly? That may change a lot of investors minds if they have to show their face but, if there is a lot of value on the line to do so, how many will remove the masks. I would say quite a few. Every ideal has a price.

One thing I did hear that interests me though is the concept of content providers of quality being rewarded without having to rely as heavily on whether they have stake or not. I have to say that if he is able to solve the quality issue, it does make it more attractive. Apparently he has also mentioned that there will be no place for bots on the system. Again, that ups the game too.

But, this is the interesting thing isn't it? Society ups and takes flight when something is not working rather than repair it which is largely due to a lack of skill, an unwillingness to learn and an attitude of lazy. Repair takes work and that is something people look to avoid these days.

But, if quality content is rewarded on the EOS platform, how many are actually capable? If bots aren't allowed, how many will manually curate? If the new platform takes work, how many are willing to actually work for their bread?

Overall, from what I have read from @dan he is an interesting person but, almost as idealistic as myself when it comes to society's ability to fundamentally change. Is he overestimating how willing people are to actually act on their words and change.

I am glad there is going to be competition to Steemit though as to be honest, maybe it will be the pressure needed to actually get the invested people here invested in the ethical running of the platform for the future, not just the financial. The risk is of course that too many abandon Steemit for greener pastures and leave the rest in the lurch.

Maybe, that in itself would be a benefit, a Spring clean of those who will throwaway rather than take the time and make the effort to repair what is broken. Perhaps the two platforms will run side by side with fundamentally different user bases. It is hard to say.

What is going to be interesting however as the launch dates and details slowly merge is how various people who have said this and claimed that then react and behave on the new information. I look forward to the observation of the community and the inevitable fighting words that will arise. More complexity, conflict and interesting times to come.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]