When it comes to retention, Steemit is failing

Before I get into this, I want to be clear about two things...

1. I honestly believe the title of this post. It may sound dramatic. Or click-bait-y. But I think it's true. The vast majority of users I personally convinced to join Steemit tried it for a period of time, and then left, for one reason or another.

2. I'm not whining and pointing the finger at Steemit Inc. I think we all have a stake in this, and I want to be part of the solution because I consider myself a Steemit evangelist. So when I say "Steemit is failing," I include myself as being partially responsible.

Recruitment isn't more important than retention

Any organization that has successfully grown its membership or client base knows there are two factors that need equal attention: recruitment and retention. This is common sense. If a gym signs up 10 new members and those 10 members love the gym and stick around, the gym is better off than if it were to sign up 20 new members, but have 15 members eventually leave.

For as long as I have been blogging on Steemit, there has been a huge interest in recruiting influencers and bringing new users to the platform; however, in my opinion, retention hasn't gotten equal attention. I've noticed this anecdotally: several friends and family members who I convinced to join Steemit (through Project meetSteem and casual conversations) tried the platform out for a little while, but eventually stopped using it.

Anecdotal evidence only goes so far, so I was checking out some of the great research that @penguinpablo recently provided and it's clear that the analytics seem to also showcase this imbalance of the growth of new users compared to the growth of daily active users.

Since August, the number of daily active users has hovered between the 25,000 to 35,000 mark, with continual ups and downs and no real signs of upcoming growth. Yet, there are thousands of new accounts being created every single day. According to @penguinpablo's data: there were 3,200 accounts created on Dec. 12, 2017 alone.

And we're not only failing to keep bloggers who aren't earning much. Days after my interview with Roger Ver, he agreed to join the platform ( @rogerkver ). His first two posts combined to make approximately $10,000 USD worth of Steem. But he hasn't blogged here in nine months. The same is true for @neilstrauss, who was an active Steemian and even attended the first SteemFest. He hasn't posted on Steemit in nine months; although, he did send 3,000 SBD and 5,000 Steem over to @bittrex six days ago.

A revolving door

Whether we want to admit it or not, in its current state, Steemit is a revolving door for many users. They come, check out the platform, post a few times, but then, for one reason or another, they leave.

I'm sure we all have opinions why this may be, and I acknowledge there have been some phenomenal efforts on behalf of this community to change that (one example: @curie).

I also think expectations play a big role in this. If somebody joins Steemit because they hear you can earn thousands by blogging, and their pure motivation is financial gain, they will likely be disappointed. There have been a few newer users who have made themselves known on Steemit and worked hard to embed themselves in the community. ( @stackin is one example that comes to mind.)

What can we do?

As a starting point, I think we need to understand why it is people are leaving.

Are they unhappy with the reward distribution? Is the downvoting drama too much to stomach? Is the user experience too frustrating?

I've spent a bit of time in the comments section, building relationships with new users and trying to encourage them to update me with feedback after a few months on the platform (once they're past the honeymoon phase):

Perhaps we could take this a step further. My suggestion to Steemit Inc. would be identifying inactive users and e-mailing them a survey regarding their experience with Steemit. Knowledge is power... and if we can identify why we're failing at retention (with factual information, not assumptions), we may be able to take a step in the right direction toward a solution.

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Feel free to comment below with your thoughts/feedback. I know this post comes across as a bit "glass-half-empty;" however, I love this platform, and I want to see it succeed. That's why I'm pushing the conversation.