I agree, Taraz. I've been here almost since the beginning, July of 2016, and have never taken a break for more than a week or so. I had an amazing run the first few years but don't get much engagement these days and that's fine with me. I really enjoy seeing others make a success out of themselves.
I saw so many of my counterparts from Gen 1 leave. Some left because of the toxicity or lack of vision from those running things (Steemit), others abandoned the platform when the currency took a dive. Most of those people end up coming back and regretting the time they lost on the platform. That's time they could've been building. I guess the crypto and traditional financial markets are no different. Most investors buy high and sell low because they're chasing the rest of the herd and react based on base emotion instead of reason.
It's super frustrating when you see the potential in something and others don't recognize it yet. You're right that we are still very early in this space. Does that mean Hive will ultimately thrive and survive? Only time will tell but patience will be needed before we find out. I mean years. In the meantime we should all have fun, support one another, spread the word, create awesome content, and think outside of the box about how we can use this platform to its absolute fullest potential.
I'm currently using Hive to craft my new book, Mindful Moments: Perfecting The Pause. The chapters came about as a series of blog posts published over the past twelve months. I'll be relying on my audience to be beta-readers for the final draft of each chapter. The Hive these posts raise will provide a kind of crowdfunding for the illustrator, book designer, and promotion of the book. It's so exciting and it's working incredibly well so far. I hope people try more things like this, it not only encourages engagement but provides an example to the world of the potential of Hive. If the book becomes a bestseller you can bet I'll be promoting Hive at every opportunity.
What do you think has changed in regards to engagement?
Yep, the bandwagon effect and the higher the peak, the more who try to jump on.
Yeah, it is going to take a fair amount of time and also a fair amount of luck. Competition is coming and if we don't get our ducks in a row, we will get caught out. I am glad that development is happening that is expanding the potential uses and hopefully, creates a few spinoff ideas to expand the space. The digital landscape is limitless.
I like the idea of people developing off-chain content from their on-chain interaction and exploration. I see it as a fine use case of the community as well as a way to build awareness externally. I gave you a follow by the way now so I can keep an eye on your continued journey :)
It's difficult to pinpoint why my engagement dropped off from what it was, probably a combination of things. I was making insane amounts a few months after I joined and I think certain folks just followed and engaged to get my upvotes. That engagement dropped off immediately after the price of Steem feel sharply following SteemFest 1. I was also posting my novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, in installments which got a lot of attention and drew people to my page. I have a smaller circle of really loyal readers now, which I enjoy. I like reading their posts as well.
I don't think Hive has to worry much about competition, we have to focus on making the ever evolving platform better, using it in new ways, and also have someone step up who's willing to manage the growth of it all. Each person who owns any of the Hive currency has a stake in the future of the platform and should realize, we're all ambassadors. This might quell some of the toxic behaviors if people realized when they do this they're only hurting themselves. Adequate leadership is where Steemit always, and very frustratingly, fell short. They mostly relied on the followers to promote the platform and that only goes so far. Even a decentralized platform needs a team of inspired individuals to help manage growth and foster outreach.
Thanks for the follow. Cheers to our collective future!
I came in when Steem was hovering at the all time lows (not that I knew that as I was clueless), but found engagement pretty good considering what I was writing about. This increased over time from about 6 months in when I started engaging heavily myself. I think long form content requires a slow build and that "loyal readership" you enjoy.
The competition is only a problem if we don't grow the space effectively. At the moment, it is fine, but I find the constant tweaking of numbers for the economics frustrating, as there are other things to work on too. Yes, these need to be tweaked - but so does the ease of gamification of user interfaces through the code (as an example).
I think a lot of people (often without much stake) take the negative path as it is the way they can gather the sense of support, as these types tend to group together and stick together.
This is where I see projects (SMTs) will have to step up strongly and become business models. They don't need to promote Hive, they need to get support for their own business/experience in the same way a website doesn't sell the internet.
Thanks for stopping by for the chat :)