Content discovery! Steemit vs Reddit. (just a rant)

in steemit •  7 years ago  (edited)

This post try to compare Steemit.com (condenser) to Reddit.com only as it relates to sort functions and search.

Steemit.com posts sorting :


Promoted is very poorly understood or used even by long time steemians "New" is barely usable with about 1 post every 2 seconds, So that leave us with Hot and Trending.

Steemit comments sorting :

Trending? Where is "top"?
"Age"... does not work and sort selection doesn't change

For those who don't know, the Steemit logo hide a secret link that send you to a feed of everything the people you follow post or resteem. It is currently most sane way to discover content.










now Reddit ...

Reddit with Enhancement suite addon.

Search...

Multi subjects (tags) feeds.



Sample of my current feed,
Do you think I care in the slightest what's on the global reddit trending page? almost no one that's logged in get to see it anyway.






There are hundreds of ways to improve content discovery but since Steemit.com has been at this same stage for the last two years I think it's futile to suggest them any, no matter how obvious or simple to implement it is.

The Trending page is a complete mess right now, has been for a while, but it wouldn't be such a big deal if there had been more thought/work put into offering different ways to discover content.

The conclusion of this post is that I would really like to help support development of competing general use Steem front-end. Please contact me if you're working on something.

Sorry for such a depressing post, I'll make another one to show all of the great content filtering that other front-end offers soon. (there is hope, but elsewhere)

Some example :
https://steemline.markus-kottlaender.de/

http://www.steemreports.com/spruce/#/feed (try clicking on a tag)

http://www.steemsearch.com/ (thanks to @mikepm74)

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There are hundreds of ways to improve content discovery but since Steemit.com has been at this same stage for the last two years I think it's futile to suggest them any, no matter how obvious or simple to implement it is.

This is key right here. They really are not worried about doing anything other than minor cosmetic changes to the UI. Since anyone with the tools to do so can create a new UI for the Steem blockchain, I think they are leaving it up to the users to create something that works better.

I imagine there are Devs out there who could create a VERY usable interface given the proper motivation. Perhaps your offer to support the efforts is the push someone needs!

It isn't really what you are looking for, but have you checked out steemsearch.com? It gives you a lot of utility in searching for content, but you still have to kind of know what you are looking for. It was created by @markangeltrueman.

I have no stake in steemsearch, just pointing out a tool I have found most useful in my content discovery. :-)

I get what you're talking about. At first it could be pretty frustrating to get on the good wave of Steemit but there are tools.
For me personally - I like using Steem Buddy to find out accounts with similar interests. Once you follow enough interesting accounts, your news feed gets the magic you're looking for.

That's a great tip. Thanks for that

Just started using steemsearch, thanks for the recommendation.

I think it is OK to keep Steemit as simple as possible to allow for as many users as possible. 3rd party tools will be able to achieve any specific sorting or searching that anybody might need.

Thanks for mentioning SteemSearch Mike, it is much appreciated, as is the continued support. I've got 3 days free to work on some more features starting from tomorrow so i'll see what i can come up with.

I ma new on steemit.please guide me and vote me @cristi

Hey again @transisto

One of the things I find the most lacking here on Steemit is the search function. Taking you to a completely different page branded by Google just can't be.

You see, I'm a college professor, I teach Marketing at a University and I promote Steemit to my students, who jump at the opportunity to work here and share the community with the rest of us.

One of the first things they ask is: Professor, how do we find each other?

I explain that it is easilly done through the search function.

Do you know what most of them come asking?

Professor, that sends us to a Google page.

I mean, they don't even bother to check the results because the page changed so abruptly.

Not only that but we all know, as we are Internet Users, that usually searches with that kind of bar SUCK TONS!!

Huge turnoff, not intuitive, marketing fail and something that just has to be worked upon.

Anyway, I almost wrote a post here myself, in fact I think I will approach this topic on my blog soon, it annoys me a lot.

Cheers! Keep up the good work.
Upvoted.

I am new on steem world. Please guide me follow me and upvote me.@cristi

try steemsearch.com. It's pretty new and im working hard on it so if you have any feature requests or ideas then let me know in steem chat #steemsearch

I am with you @spiritualmax.

Plus even when you do it, the results do not come up.

Half the time I will put in a @username and get something totally off the wall especially if the person is relatively new.

I end up digging through my following list to find the people.

Finding new content on here is mostly chance. There's no good method to find something new unless you know what you're looking for.

Implementation underway at hivemind repository ... https://github.com/steemit/condenser/wiki/Community-Spec-%5BDRAFT%5D

Yep, I've been asking for things like following a tag or "favourite tag" buttons since like 2 years :s

I have no programming skills whatsoever but I support what you state here completely.

This site is just one big steam it seems. I only recently got a hold of my feed since I went bonkers upon signing up and followed everyone under the sun.

That said, I have reduced it a great deal of late so that it is manageable. Outside of that though, it is hopeless. I sift through the taglines but most of them are mislabeled (some seem to think that every post has to do with STEEM).

I wasnt here two years ago but with a reported 20K authors, this place is becoming a mess. Even when I am seeking something on a particular subject, the google search bar gives me a bunch of garbage unrelated to what I seek.

Since we are ranting, one feature that really irritates me is that using other apps like Zappl, snapshot, and Dtube puts those posts in my blog category. I dont necessarily want a bunch of zaps in my blogs. The developers over the state that it is a steemit issue.

Rant over....

I think that since authors don't get rewarded for old content, they do not update it and fail to bring in long term inbound links which would float the best material to the top.

To be fair, they are right, they can't control what steemit displays.

you are very right about this,, I dont know anything about programming as well but the points are very clear to me now.

Since we are ranting, one feature that really irritates me is that using other apps like Zappl, snapshot, and Dtube puts those posts in my blog category. I dont necessarily want a bunch of zaps in my blogs. The developers over the state that it is a steemit issue.

personally I like seeing all of what a member does on the ecosystem. As the flagship site, Steemit needs to implement an interface feature which allows members to filter out what they don't want to see from the ecosystem thus giving members a choice. But, that would be like making the Trending page more relevant or implementing a real search feature.. wishful thinking at this point.

I am new on steemit please guide me folloe me and vote me

I am a full stack developer and will help any projects that need web develoment help.

It's really nice to see you volunteer for such a job of helping.

Yes, I agree with you.

Any type of project ?

Please tell me what you want to do and I will help. I mostly do microsoft technologies for middlware and backend but well versed with botstrap jquery reactivejs steemjs and similar UI stuff. www.artnet.com is one of the websites that I have worked on in the past.

My proposed changes for hf20 Trending tab

Haejinit.com

Took me a while to see it, then bursted laughing.

HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA

I've been an avid daily user of reddit for many years. I really enjoy reddit. I can't wait to see what Steem communities will do for Steem. It's difficult to know if Steemit does have their priority at the right place but we still have to give them the benefice of the doubt at least that's my opinion. They have a lot to chew on. The are not only developing the leading hedge of blockchain tech but also it's leading front-end and that's 2 major achievement with almost no precedent if at all.

Also reddit as gazillion more authors and also gazillion more professional one paid per companies. I really hope and think Steem will get there with time and effort.

Take care my Transisto! Have fun!

The are not only developing the leading hedge of blockchain tech but also it's leading front-end and that's 2 major achievement with almost no precedent if at all.

And, all the social aspects they are incorporating into it. It's really uncharted territory.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I have been on and off reddit for over 10years. When I first started reddit everything was lumped together on the front page and there were no subreddits. Those were the days of “vote up if, vote down if”. It was just blue text on a white background. It was better back then. Now they’re shady as fuck with their shadow bans and if you say anything about their liberal socialist agenda you get banned, assuming you can post in the first place with their karma limits. Point is, when you first start a website you just want things to work. Reddit worked back then. Now it’s just one infested armpit of censorship if you don’t toe the communist agenda. I’ll never go back there. I’d rsther be here as long as there’s free speech.

And you can find anything through the google search. Just put whatever you’re searching for in the google search, including peoples names.

" their liberal socialist agenda" "if you don’t toe the communist agenda"

I feel like you can't define any of those

There are only a select number of subreddits where you can say any right wing opinion without being harassed and downvoted. You can state left wing opinions pretty much everywhere without fear. That's a big problem because it makes the site unpleasant to use for anyone with right wing beliefs, including free speech.

That is not what I asked. Liberals are right of center, they are just another form of capitalist.

"That's a big problem because it makes the site unpleasant to use for anyone with right wing beliefs, including free speech."

free speech has historically been more left wing than right, fascism comes to mind for one.

"You can state left wing opinions pretty much everywhere without fear."

liberals are not left and I think you mean progressiveism, which is just the "happy face" of tyranny. Either way 20 million die of poverty a year and the answer is the destruction of capitalism.

It’s historical revisionism to suggest fascism is right wing. Giovanni Gentile was the father of fascism and he was very left wing. Fascism is fundamentally about collectivism, not individualism or freedom. That’s synonymous with left wing politics and socialism.

I’m not OP and I wouldn’t refer to the left as liberal. Liberalism is fundamentally a right wing ideology which dates back to the Enlightenment.

Capitalism has brought 1 billion people out of poverty in the last 20 years. Socialism and communism has killed 100 million at least in the past century. It should be clear which side has better ideas.

If you honestly believe capitalism is a bad thing it’s a wonder you’re on this site at all. Capitalism is mans greatest invention and it will continue to bring millions out of poverty every month.

"and it will continue to bring millions out of poverty every month."

they wouldn't be in poverty if it weren't for capitalist imperialism.

" Capitalism is mans greatest invention"

yeah, and atomic bombs and climate change are next

All depends on your defintition the word has been bastardised and co-opted so much it's lost it's meaning to post people same with Anarchy which I think is beautiful to me capitalism is just a market economy and I think that's much better than letting the state or other entity choose and dictate everything!

its historical revisionism to ignore the fact that fascism is completely right wing lmao. Hitler slaughtered socialists and communists and privatised multiple national industries for a reason

What was right wing about Hitler? He was all about collectivism, his party was the national socialist party, he socialised education and welfare and blamed the wealthy capitalist Jews for all of the country’s problems. Replace the word Jew with top 1% and it sounds a lot like another socialist, Bernie Sanders.

The socialist historians have lied to millions to try and distance Hitler from their corrosive ideology.

"What was right wing about Hitler? He was all about collectivism, "

oh so that must be why he privatised nation industry.

oh no wait, you're just delusional

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives

remember that one time hitler slaughtered every socialist in his party?

Fascism is an Italian term that means “groupism” or “collectivism.” The fasci in Italy were groups of political activists who got their name from the fasces of ancient Rome—the bundles of rods carried by the lictors to symbolize the unified strength of the Romans. The core meaning of the term fascism is that people are stronger in groups than they are as individuals.

You're right, that sounds sooooo much like right wingers.

the right wing is based on private ownership of the means of production and a market system built out of that.

The Nazis supported private ownership and markets.

and it seems like you missed this

It feels like the early days of Facebook and 3rd-Party Facebook Apps.

The Trending page is a complete mess right now, has been for a while, but it wouldn't be such a big deal if there had been more thought/work put into offering different ways to discover content.

And I am beginning to think that the current way the search and discover function works is what makes Steemit so focused on just getting upvotes without genuine readership.

Only the trending and hot sections are given attention to, although there might be other rich content buried forever.

I also believe that there are a lot of us out here who would enjoy being suggested articles to which is in line with our interests. If there will be some algo for this, more Steemians will be motivated to post for things they are passionate about, knowing that there are eager readers to whom their content will be served.

Anyway, there is definitely a huge room for improvement given the age of the platform.

Yes, finding material on Steemit.com can be one of the most frustrating things imaginable. At least for me. However, in the time I've been here, I haven't really seen the interface change with exception of appearance.

I think they are waiting for a user or users to come up and produce something better for them. However, I am not the person with the type of knowledge to do that. So... Here is to hoping someone else does!

Yes, I really dont understand how this is going on for so long. Also I am not a developer, but I would think that the main priority of the core team right now would be to fix the basic search and listing functionality, as well as adding private messaging.

I WANT to promote steemit to my friends, but showing them the site in it's current form is a joke!

Compare this to DTUBE which is being privately developed, and in my opinion has become the LEADING value for steem.

I mean in the 5 months I have been here, what really has even changed? We got a new logo? Cmon devs!!!

Reddit is too confusing for me. I guess users like you who have spent a lot of time there, know their way around. I use New and Trending quite often. They serve their purpose. I can't think of thing to improve there.

However, I have been thinking about Promoted section lately, even decided to make a post with a proposal to make changes to make it work. I think Promoted can become very useful if it was incentivized for people to visit it. If more people are incentivized to visit promote section, more authors will start actually using promote feature and burning Steem/SBD, and it would be great for investors like you, because value of Steem would rise as a result of burning.

Steem does have a good advantage in that it is much more Noob Friendly. I too would like to see some added incentive for people to look at the promoted section as it would increase the value of the Coin and the platform greatly.

Oh yes, that was exactly my first thought when I arrived here at Steemit a few weeks ago. The content in "Promoted" looks crapy. Too bad. Thanks!

I would like to see a sub reddit type sections in steemit. sub steemits that can be dedicated to specific things and possibly implement moderators.

Nice post

for link i think reddit is awesome web but for read information and get a $ . Steemit is the best ever i know . sorry reddit . @transisto

The search results coming up on a google-like page is bad. Very bad... But hey, at least it doesn't show up as Reddit results!

Honestly speaking though, I've tried to use the search function three times in total and I've been a member here since July 2016.

great moment sir @transisto

Steemit developers are hard working guys. They do but only during steemfest. And rest of the year they forgets that steemit exist too . @transisto

@transisto I nominated you for a fun challenge that is running on Steemit at the moment. I hope you can take part. Click Here

The UI and searching on steemit does need a good overhaul at some point.

Thanks for this post. Very useful it is specially the steemit LOGO. I never knew that.

Steemit is better in so many ways

Please go on...

good job :)

I'm thinking to build a recommender system on top of it~

Both are revolutionary, but Steemit has a brighter future!!

great post, yes I don't rely on search for anything here, I gave up on it as it's pretty fruitless. I survive with the core group I've chosen to follow and check out the hotlist for "news"/popular posts. Peace !

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

It looks like steemit front-end is no longer a priority for devs. That is sad.

it never was.

It would be great to start utopian project for steemit search.

you mean like steemsearch.com? ;)

However, due to blockchain limitation I doubt how many of the features will be applicable. But steemit should work aggressively on both on marketing and UI to compete with Reddit.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

This is just one of a couple problems I think that need to be fixed before this site can exploit with users. Right now, it is so hard to navigate and get noticed. Power users almost always dominate the site because they can upvote their own posts which pushes it to the top which everyone else is posting into the abyss.

Just the other day I made a post about STEEM breaking $1b market cap. No one saw it but 20 minutes later a power user made a similar post, upvoted it himself and bam, off to the races his post went.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Lose away off why half led have near bed.

The userflow can be better, but still. Its in beta ;)

Thanks for the steemsearch mention - I have been really hard at work trying to add useful features. Some of the stuff that you can do in Reddit could, in theory, be mirrored on there. I'll have a think. I've got a shedload of stuff on my backlog to add to steemsearch already - it's going to keep my busy for a long time!!

@transisto also sent you a message on steemit.chat :)

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

:(

Yeah, at this point pretty much only subscription feed is usable. Which is obviously annoying when their arent any useable discovery mechanisms to find people to subscribe in the first place.

Since follow feeds is the only reasonable way to use steemit, We barely can't post or resteem anything that we find interesting unless we stick to a specific subject, do it very rarely or create another account for other subjects. Doesn't scale at all.

Oh god, resteems need to be figured. Its really awkward when someone I follow decides to go on a resteem spree, burying my feed. I still adore steem, but I have a feeling steemit.com will eventually be remembered as a proof of concept site.

There should be a limit for resteems :) Maybe should be tied to VP depletion.

I'm not sure an on-chain solution is ideal. I can think of plenty of scenerios where resteem curation can provide a valuable feature. Honestly, I think the problem is because "steem" and "steemit" are still interchangable. What we really need is a seperate "uncensored chaotic mess steem viewer" and a "technically censored (in the sense dtube censors non-video content) steemit blogging platform." Like, steemit should force a tag like the other dApps do. But right now, they obviously can't, it would kill every other dApp.
So right now we are stuck in the unfortunate situation where a specific use case dApp is also trying to be a generalized hub. I have no idea how we deal with these growing pains.

I think communities might resolve most of these issues.

I feel that Steemit inc is withholding so much work that it's borderline similar to insider trading.

Only whales/investors can pressure them to be more transparent and open. But at the same time I prefer them to be selective and careful what they say/reveal, since anything they say/announce may have a impact on the Steem prices.

i forgot about those! Yeah, I have high hopes for them.

Yes, steemit interface need much work for proper content discovery options.

Steemit is the best network now a days. The main thing is that steemit value your post and share their revenue with you. while the other networks just earn for themselves.

There are about 7000 steemians as opposed to hundreds of thousands of redditors. Development comes gradually with growth. I am sure reddit was not that detailed at first either.

I mean, really, who cares about such an elaborate search option when most topics lose significance in a day?

sir i need your support i m new on steemit plz resteem my post
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemiters/the-coin-u-should-buy

I’ve never actually used reddit.... so glad to have found steemit!

We need people like you Transisto, people that get out of their way to reach to a growing platform because he knows it can do better, and he can't be fucked to wait for someone else to complain.

Keep at it man!

I don't see how it makes sense comparing steemit to reddit, since reddit has been on the www for way longer than steemit. But of course I agree that steemit does definitely need more filtering options, which it is currently lacking.

great moment sir @transisto

Sir @transisto
Its excellent article and great information for steemian. Steemit much better from other fake site where no earing and also no socialized.
Merry Christmas and keep sharing

magnificent sir @transisto

nice learning post sir @transisto

I didn't know about the link in the steemit log @transisto so thanks for that. I've been on Reddit for years and have some nice Karma but never really understood it. I knew it was a decent driver of traffic to my website every once and awhile but my only content discoveries were on my homepage.

please donate to me
just up vote here please !

There are hundreds of ways to improve content discovery but since Steemit.com has been at this same stage for the last two years I think it's futile to suggest them any, no matter how obvious or simple to implement it is.

The Trending page is a complete mess right now, has been for a while, but it wouldn't be such a big deal if there had been more thought/work put into offering different ways to discover content.

I couldn't agree more! This is the key problem and the most important thing you mentioned in the post. I hope it will change but I dont think it will. not soon.

good post and great analysis. I have not used Reddit but i am enjoying my ride on steemit. it is undoubtedly great platform. Its working method just amazing.i like the idea very much!!!

It's a working progress. Since steemit's launch, there have been minor cosmetic improvements to the platform itself but new systems based on the steem blockchain (d.live, d.tube etc.) have been successfully launched so we can't fault anyone here that certain suggestions hasn't been implemented. In time, I'm pretty confident that we'll see these changes so long as we keep giving them the feedback. Cheers.

An interesting article and you very intelligently showed the mechanisms of content search. I'm not so long ago in our ecosystem and now I have a greater idea of what and how it works! Thank you @transisto and happy Christmas!

@transisto,
I like these simple UI and features of STEEMIT than Reddit! But content filter is a worthy update for STEEMIT! No doubt about that!
Wish you a Merry X'mas!

Cheers~

While content discovery on Steemit could use a lot of improvement, Reddit is NOT even close to something Steemit should want to emulate. Reddit is a POS.

The biggest problem with the Trending page is that posts on there are driven by the rewards when engagement should be a greater factor than the rewards.

With whale votes carrying more weight, using the rewards to determine the Trending page only reflects what the whales are noticing while the majority of user's engagement is completely missed.

Steemit does need its own search function, no question about that.

Reddit isn't spammed by whales, so you don't actually have to promote your post to get any visibility. I don't even use any advanced search features there and I find a lot of valuable content.

Can I share a link?

https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemchiller/introducing-my-steemit-ui-tools-sct

@steemchiller posted an extension which allows some of the functionalities mentioned in this post. You will find a few posts via the search "UI" in the steemit search which have similar statements and desires for steem's UI improvement. While it is 6 months old, it is worth looking at what has already been attempted.

What would it take to get a dedicated(paid) team of devs and collaborators to build a quality UI for everyone to find content and post as they desire? Of course joining an existing team might be more effective, I am a newb coder but I can draw up a clean UI if someone needs inspiration for their code designs.

When I wanna search the global feed I use google trends. I like the way reddit is designed to create a custom home screen. Upvoted cause that is something I would die to have here on steemit.

nice learning post sir @transisto

U define very good way both steemit and reddit, is on reddit get pay for post ?

Very useful information, thanks for the knowledge you share for us as a new user ... congratulations and success made..😎😎😎

U5dr2ojvbLTC49csRk3UMon1NwSNsH1.gifU5drmmKeXukB8vBLTWwdXbAMFoFxqFy.gif

so amazing post thanks

Would be cool to also allow to subscribe to favorite topics, not just users.

I like your posting .post is good. i want to be like you are a lot of fans. and i need your support in achieving the ideals in order to become a good artist. i need support from you.

Hello , I am new in steemit ,

Thank to posting

I’m not sure how reddit/SteemIt does it but sorting generally isn’t a frontend thing. If you want a day, week, month, etc. sort that’s a backend(db) thing, same for story/feed optimization. I’m not sure how data storage works for Steem since it uses blockchain but if it’s open source and java I can give it a look one night. I probably can’t fix anything but you never know.

All i want is to wish Merry Christmas to everyone.

Reddit was until now, but its time for Steemit

wow seems very interesting!!

im very keen to know more about it!!

thanks for the post..

& Merry Christmas.. Be always happy.. ☺

thank you very good

many do not even try to understand the search function, and this tells us a lot.
You are actively working and are trying to find partners to change this platform for the better. Any positive changes will necessarily give an increase in active users.

You do an incredible amount to improve and bring about changes, it's good that you get tired of your ideas and developments together with us, this will speed up the process of change. Because the Google panel gives a normal result, but only a lot of garbage and this is an actual problem.

thank you I wish success in this matter.

Am not on reddit, but ur post show that reddit site have many features options , but I like steemit it's simple and easy.

I'd like to a see a comparison between these two and Busy.org

Steemit will win the end it's not perfect at the moment but I'm very optimistic about it's future which is why I'm holding all mine a keeping it in steemit savings :)

Congratulations @transisto!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following category:

  • Pending payout - Ranked 3 with $ 433,24

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you

Your point is noted. Thanks for your observation.

Yes, steemit interface need much work for proper content discovery options.

Compared to steemit, most social media platforms looks boring except Facebook for now. Wuth so many innovative sites and apps, I guess we on a better ride in 👌 future

Der Wille um zu verstehen ist oft zu schwach!

its amazing sir @transisto

You giving some important detail to find steemit developers team. Look at this problem and if you fix this problem Highly appreciated. Steemit post sort feature is very low more than Reddit. Reddit has more filter searches. Thanks for the update.

I am a full stack by developer.When this is complete projects development it will be help to many.Really Good job.Thanks for shearing. Hope to see another one soon.
Happy wonderful New Year.
@upvoted and @resteemed

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Take the time to explain Steemit to your family and friends this holiday!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@xsid/share-steemit-with-the-family-this-holiday

I agree some simple changes can be performed... If you want to go main stream please change some things.... small for us but big for new users..

Nice observation! I am sure after this post you will see some changes happening in the UI at steemit.com too in the near future :)

Sometimes when I read your post, I feel like you write from another realm.
I'm awestruck, have a nice day....

It is your stake use it how you like....
However it is also a transparent system

Waw good

Why would anyone who has been involved with steemit long enough to have enough power to change anything change anything? The system that it is place is making them quite wealthy. If they make the trending and hot pages more accessible to content other than their own, then they are in essence taking a significant pay cut. I wouldn't hold your breath.

At least the search bar was moved....

That is something.

I think I’m beginning to fill in some of the “things I didn’t know, I didn’t know” - the UI and the difficulty in finding the things I’d like to see and frustration in being able to get what I may be able to contribute in front of people that has been a simmering subtext to my early days with Steemit. Clearly I’m going to need to start looking for better tools... followed your blog because it seems you raising things for me that are sort of clicking into place and giving me a language to use in articulating more clearly what I’m intuitively feeling without completely knowing why.

  ·  7 years ago Reveal Comment