Intro
This isn't a post where one of these platforms wins, so if you were hoping to see one of them come out on top, you might want to leave now. Instead this post is a comparison of the two platforms through the lens of my personal bias. I hope you find it interesting, and I'd love to turn this monologue into a dialogue. If it ends up being worth your time to read, I'd love if you could hit share at the bottom or resteem this for others.
Photography
I've been having a lot of fun with photography lately, and with that I've tried to keep pretty active here on the Steem blockchain as well as on Instagram. As much as I enjoy Steem, and as much as I dislike the changes Instagram has made with the algorithm I'm not sure that the apps on the Steem blockchain are the best fit for my photography ventures, at least at this time. Either way, I'm keeping the early-adopter mentality and attempting to see the potential of Steem, while continuing on as I have with Instagram. I do admit I'm feeling a little bearish about the potential of the Steem blockchain to "produce" an app or platform that will experience mass adoption.
What motivates a person to share their work on an online platform?
For photographers, I think Instagram was initially appealing because of the tight community, and high level of engagement between members. This has somewhat waned with time and the algorithm, and I've definitely experienced the hit but there is still an element of it there. People love feedback, and there's plenty of research that says that people love the affirmation, regardless of how authentic it is, that comes from social media.
I believe the same is true for the draw of photographers to Steem apps, with two major differences: one being the possibility of direct monetary rewards, and two, the unique subset of people drawn to blockchain and new/experimental technology. Because of these things, and particularly the latter, I have found it difficult to find the same sense of "community" or common interests among my followers/following as I have on Instagram. I hope this can change, or my motivation will wane. As much as I like the crypto rewards, it's not enough to keep me, especially at their current prices.
Instagram feels like my home country, while Steemit (and other Steem apps) feels like a foreign country.
Life's not bad here, it's just different. While there is the possibility of rewards and potential, it has not been fully realized or proven. Instagram on the other hand has allowed me to do promotional work for Google, Fossil, Yuneec, and many other brands in exchange for fiat currency (USD) and products. Sure I have not made money from Instagram the company, but I have definitely made money from Instagram the community. Steem feels like a foreign land, where the people speak a different language, and the cultural barriers are high. Again, this doesn't mean it's bad, it's just different and takes a unique approach.
What makes the Steem blockchain exciting to you, beyond the potential it has. What makes it exciting and engaging right now? Do you have a project or idea that you want to collaborate on? I'd love to do something more with this platform than I am currently doing. I'm a hard worker and I want to make this experience rewarding.
What are my options?
I love the challenge of curation, and putting together a body of work that fits together and is aesthetically pleasing as a whole. This is one of the things I enjoy about Instagram, and it's simplistic grid layout that has largely remain unchanged for years. Below, is a screenshot of my current grid and the photos I'm sharing, most of which you've probably seen here on my blog.
Hey thanks for reading this, whatever it ended up being! Let me know what I'm missing here on Steemit, and drop me a comment if you have a project you need help with!
Justin
Purchase my photos on Stocksy United! Stocksy United - Justin Mullet
Creating authentic outdoor and landscape photography primarily in the Western United States. Featuring a beautiful portfolio of stock photos that portray some of the earth's most peaceful and quiet areas, and portraying rural life at its best!
Hey Justin, thanks for sharing your view on both social media’s. I agree with you about the sense of community Instagram has. I also enjoy the fact that Instagram presents a body of work while Steemit does not. But that’s because Steemit wasn’t designed for it. Other apps built on the block chain like @steepshot do offer that however. I was really excited when I discovered Steepshot but unfortunately, they kinda went quiet for the last few weeks and I’m not sure why. Many bugs still need to be fixed.
As much as I liked Instagram - and it had also offered me my first job opportunity on a film set - I find myself spending less and less time on it because of the new algorithm. It’s truly terrible. I follow over 1000 people but only see the same two or three accounts every time I open the app. And I’m not sure how smart the algorithm is either. I can tell Instagram shows me profiles I’ve scrolled down to see older post as well as profiles I’ve liked 2-3 pictures consecutively. That’s it.
I hope there was an option not to use the algorithm. It’s bothering me a lot because Instagram used to be a place where I could find inspiration by following a wide range of artists. It is now more like an “image-only” version of Facebook where one can see what their friends are up to. It’s too bad!
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I have to agree with you on almost everything you said about Instagram! I think the landscape is ripe for a competitor to come in and draw people away, although the longer Facebook and Instagram stick around the more difficult that may be. Also, you're point about Steemit not being designed for the same use as Instagram makes a lot of sense.
I checked out @steepshot a while back, but didn't end up using it. I have heard some good things about @appics however and I'm excited to try out the early version. The one thing I'm wondering though is if each app that runs on the Steem blockchain will have the same users across each app. For example, you'd think I could build a following and community around my work on Appics, and then for longer form content come over here on Steemit or Steempeak, and build a separate portfolio/blog. I don't think I would want my Appics photos visible from the Steemit frontend, and I wouldn't want my Steemit content visible on Appics... does that make sense?
If I understand properly, you’re imagining an app built on the Steem blockchain but without interacting with Steemit besides maybe monetary rewards? That would be interesting indeed, I’d like to see that happen too.
I heard of Appics but haven’t been able to try it yet. Are they still only letting a few people use it for testing purposes ?
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Exactly! Would it be possible for the Steem blockchain to power a social network that could be autonomous from Steemit, or at least disguise it's connection enough that the average user wouldn't even know? I'm imagining a platform as well designed and intuitive as Medium, but built on Steem. Or perhaps a minimalist, chronological photo sharing app like Instagram, built on Steem, but with awesome clean design, and a renamed and easy to understand rewards system. I would even build a Steem to USD exchange, and partner with Stripe or Paypal to deposit rewards if users would want. The way Steemit is currently set up just doesn't make sense to 90% of people.....
Just dreaming :)
You’re right. The average user has no time to study the system behind Steem. It personally took me 4-5 months to even begin to understand it. Trying to explain it to my friends is another issue, especially when they bombard me with questions, trying to find the flaws behind the system !
Such app would be ideal, and I’m very hopeful. Steem is still very young (2 years I believe?) and once SMT are introduced, we should hopefully see many more brains joining the development side of Steem. In comparaison, Facebook is a 14 year old app, and Instagram a 8 year old app. Luckily, often times with technology, development is exponential ! It’s a matter of getting stuff started :)
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I'm excited!
Yes this is the purpose of SMT's ; to allow a layer of platforms on top of the main blockchain that have their own separate content (and slightly different proof of brain for each SMT) on top of the main blockchain. You can read the white paper here if yoiu have a spare day https://smt.steem.io/
Steemit?? Do you mean steem? Or are you specifically comparing steemit.com to instagram?
There are way better ways to view steem posts. there's no way my photographer friends would use Steemit. That's why we're trying to make steempeak more intuitive and have the features they want.
Yes, I suppose I mean Steem in general and not the just the Steemit front end. I edited my post accordingly. To me though the thoughts I shared remain the same regardless of what interface I'm using.
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Great shots, and interesting points. We at @photofeed realized and saw that the photographer community was struggling, which is exactly why we created this page and tag. Steempeak has been one of the best things on the Steemit platform for improving photography on a fundamental level, as we now have a lot more options for both viewing and posting. While Steemit isn't at the level of Instagram for potential discovery by as many users and companies, we hope that in time the "early adopter" mentality pays off and everyone currently here is a step ahead of the rest.
But, suffice it to say, we hear you. We will be doing our best to kick it up a notch this fall with some new incentives, to help photography blossom here as best we can on a community level. And if you haven't used Steempeak yet, we highly recommend it.
BUT...anywho, resteemed!
Awesome @photofeed, and thank you! I do appreciate the efforts, in fact you guys' personal accounts are part of a handful that I have set to automatically up-vote on Steemauto as appreciation of what you're doing. I am actually typing this on Steempeak right now. It's definitely the better interface for desktop, but I still end up using Steemit for mobile.
I would love it if @steempeak would create an app for mobile, but I realize that's a whole different animal. Ultimately Steemit needs a better mobile presence, since that's what the majority of people use to browse.
And also, thanks man! I/we appreciate it!
In your mind what would an app have that we couldn't do on a Mobile website?
If we improved the menu layout of the mobile website what else are you really hoping for?
People just like apps more than mobile webpages even if they offer the same functionality. They feel safer and more contained.
i can understand that. I wonder if there's an app where it just opens up our mobile website. haha
I mean there are probably a few benefits app programming can give us related to picture upload. However we do want to finish up some really cool features first.
Yes just an app which opened the webpage would be a start. A lot of banking apps are like that (as people feel safer with their passwords in the app as there is less chance of being taken by a pop up etc or to a scam version of the webpage account)
Basically what @intrepidphotos said here. Having an app "feels" way better. While functionally I don't think there'd need to be a ton of changes, just having something a little more designed for mobile would be nice... But yes it's a whole new and more complicated animal from what I've heard.
Once I am past the top menu navigation and swiping down through the recent posts, Steempeak is great.
The main reason I use Steempeak on mobile is for the notifications. However just to see one notification on my Pixel 2 XL takes me four actions: First I have to push the menu button, then I have to scroll to see the notification button, then I tap notifications, and then I have to scroll again to actually see them. Then they only use up the top half of my screen, so scrolling through is tedious.
I really like how the Partiko app shows notifications. It is a tab on the bottom that only requires one click to instantly see everything full screen. It's very similar to the Twitter app and it just works efficiently every time. I can do it with muscle memory, while the Steempeak menu takes much more concentration. #firstworldprobs Just some suggestions. I am impressed though with all you guys hard work on it and excited about further developments!
So if we can solve the navigation type stuff and what's readily available on the main page... what's next?
I have had Instagram cut my reach by 50% in the last 8 weeks (from 15-30K to 7-12k). Evey post I put up now they say is 95% better than the last and recommend I promote it. They have just killed reach to force paid promotion on accounts my size. They have also removed the option from me to return to a personal account from a business account (despite what they say on their FAQ). I know a few others who this has happened to recently so its a concerted effort to monetize what I would consider the micro influencer market of accounts with aprox 30-80K followers. There is a reason both Instagram founders disgruntledly resigned from Instagram a couple of weeks ago. The current monetization crush is similar to what happened to Facebook about 3-4 years ago and now accounts there with 200k followers on FB are lucky to get a reach of 1k people when they post something if they don't promote it.
People are focused on the direct financial rewards here on STEEM, which is fine but they miss the point. The real revolution is the fact that you own your own following here. There is no middle man between you and your followers on the blockchain that can take them away from you and decide that "oh by the way now you have to pay to reach them". The network you build here will last as long as the blockchain is kept alive. This is the real beauty of distributed networks; the connections are owned by the people in the network.
As for addressing the content discovery and interface issues we have at the moment on STEEM all that will come with time. Steemit is a proof of concept interface and will fade away. Other projects like steempeak will take over the vanguard of the long form blogging interface and then an array of apps like APPICS and Steepshot using SMT's will take on instagram directly. By December next year the masses will be able to download DApps like APPICS on their phone, create an account instantly (thanks to HF20), just use their fingerprint scanner on their phone rather than remember or even understand crypto keys, and post away with a similar experience to what they are used to with applications like Instagram. The prospect of rewards will lure them in, but they will stay because the system works exactly as they are used to without being manipulated by an algorithm. Just look at the Vero madness which swept instagram a couple of months ago to see the latent anger which lies below the surface relating to the manipulative nature of the algorithmic feed on instagram. Vero really offered nothing other than a return to a chronological feed (although still controlled by someone else, in this case Saudi royalty rather than Californian shareholders). The steem blockchain and SMT's offers so much more before you even start to think that people one day will be able to pay for a coffee at a cafe with their APPICS app on their smart phone.
I hate what's happening to Instagram, and you've really said it well. It's too bad for the creator. On the other hand I love your explanations of Steem, and when I read your content like this I can often see what I'm missing! I had forgot about the release and eventual benefits of SMT's and I can get pretty excited about it. Thanks for this!
I have just made this conversation it into a post as I think more people need to hear it.