Don't Let Authoritarians Destroy Steemit Like They Did Google Plus.

in #steemit8 years ago (edited)

Let Me Tell You a Little Story About a Social Media Platform Called Google Plus.

Over the last five years I built an online marketing company on the back of social media. What many of my recent followers don't know is that I built my company on the much maligned social media platform known as Google Plus. My profile on Google Plus.

I want you as Steemit users to see the parallels. We as Steemit users need to be keep in mind that we are still in Beta and this platform can either fly high or sink like the Titanic. It is really up to us the users.

The Good Old Days on Google Plus.

I first began on Google Plus by asking a friend for an invite to the Beta. Similar to Steemit I sat on my ass for a few months before I really got going. I began networking on the platform and engaging like a wild man. I was making new internet friends on a daily basis, it was exhilarating!

Then one day I was sitting at my desk and someone was calling me on Google Hangouts. I had only used the tool once before so I was really taken off guard. I answered and it was one of my friends who worked at Google Chile the Google Headquarters for Central and South America. We exchanged pleasantries and he asked me, "Randy what are you doing? You are the fastest growing user in Central America!" I told him I was spending all of my free time on the platform and engaging. He gave me a virtual High Five and sent me a book and gift card to my home.

I continued this trajectory for my first year. I just kept making friends and having the time of my life. I slowly began to leverage the platform to showcase my marketing talents but I was very conservative.

Staking Our Claim on Google Plus.

Then in December of 2012 Google Plus released Communities (Groups). I stayed up all night setting up communities that mattered to my brand. Imagine starting the internet from scratch and having every url available again! It was a literal GOLD RUSH. I set up the Gold and Silver Investing Community, Panama, Aquaponics and a few others.

It was fun at first as we watched our communities grow but something was not the same. People began to spend some of their time in these fenced off communities instead of participating on the general platform. I did not mind since my engagement numbers were still climbing quickly but it was an ominous sign.

Then something odd happened, which I now know is typical in this scenario. People began to act authoritarian in their communities. They set up rules upon rules that many folks found to be divisive. Feelings were being hurt and dirt was thrown. At the time I was quite amused.

The Google Hangout Elitists Rise.

In 2013 a few of the prominent SEO and Marketing folks got together and started Live Google Hangout Shows that people attended in mass. I participated with my friend Mia Voss a Sassy Promoter who made the live shows worthwhile she did her best to counter the authoritarian types with humor.

The problem I saw was that many of these shows turned into an Elitist, "We Know How Google Plus Should Run, Not You!" They got together like lynch mobs and started telling the community how Google Plus should operate and how the users should post, engage, follow and use every aspect of the platform. It was nauseating for an AnCap like myself to watch. All I could think was that these are the same type of ass holes who vote and make sure ridiculous laws take away our rights.

The peak of Google Plus for me was Christmas 2013 when we held our Google Plus Hangout Christmas Show. We had the some of the funnest people on the platform join us as we gave away all kinds of gifts like a ChromeBook. For me it would never be the same after this.

Take Your Ego and Shove It.

2014 was the year when the Ego of the Google Plus Elitists became toxic. For me it was sad as I saw many of my friends I had made over the years disappear from the platform. The Google Plus lynch mobs grew in size and the authoritarians continued unabated.

The platform stagnated and became a place for people to just drop links. For many the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefit was the only benefit of the platform worth using. Stubbornly Anabell and I continued to stand by the platform and built a little empire for ourselves.

Watching my favorite platform sink like the Titanic over the course of 2014 was quite heart wrenching. We had put so much time and effort into our personas on the platform that watching a small group spoil something that could have been awesome really bugged us.

The Dark Times.

In 2015-2016 Google decided to drop some great features of the platform but also took Google Plus comments off Youtube which was a welcome change. The changes were great for one reason, many of the elitists who torched the Google Plus Community were largely silent. They had left the platform and moved back to Fascistbook, good riddance!

The platform continued to move along at a pace akin to a Sloth.

Not much was happening. Communities were thriving and the new Collections feature was pretty cool. Then the Google geniuses decided to revamp the platform and make it easier to use. They failed miserably! It is so complicated that I have no idea how a new person will understand it without spending hours on the platform. I can go on Instagram and understand the basics in a few minutes.

Now it is almost 2017 and Google Plus still exists but is a disappointment. The platform held so much promise. I hope it still can be salvaged but the damage has been done.

The Google Plus and Steemit Parallel.

Steemit is attracting a ton of attention. I guarantee you that there are folks at the big social media giants who are watching this Beta launch closely. We can avoid a slow destruction like Google Plus if we don't let a small group of Elitist users dictate how we are going to use the platform.

As many of you know I with the approval of Ned and Dan launched the @Steem-Meme Project. This initiative can be a great way for us to attract more users to the platform. The memes are already rocking on Twitter, thank you for everyone participating!

I have noticed that there are people who do not approve of the project. These purists want the platform to focus on the blogging niche. What everyone needs to remember is that we are building a social media platform here. Blogging was just the first piece. The simple answer to the complaints is, "if you don't like memes don't participate". Memes are part of social media culture and will help the Steemit community attract some amazing talent.

The biggest danger for Steemit is how much authority people are given to drive the direction of the platform. It is easy to go either way. The Steemit Upvote system takes care of most of the problems. If we are not careful authoritarians will try to dictate how things are done. Please do not give these types of folks attention. Let's have fun on Steemit and make it a place where content creators can come and be rewarded for what they do.

I know I am loving what we are building here!

Follow Me I Follow Back 100%. Upvote Por Favor.

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Thank you for this post. We absolutely need to appeal beyond the blogosphere!

That would be amazing. Blogging is only a fraction of the size of total social media experience.

Somewhere around August steemit decided it was a blogging platform. Before that people would post short funny stuff, share links and videos. After that it seemed like you needed to post an essay to get anywhere.

I'm glad some short and funny stuff is coming back.

I think you may have misspelled "authoritarians". Why is there an "s" at the end? There is only one authoritarian.

I will try to comply Lord Vader! Don't wan't to be next.

I like your attitude. I'm looking for some fresh blood in the Empire. For some odd reason, I seem to be running out of followers.

Google probably still does not know what they squandered.

Nope, like a ship without a sail.

Google also put limits on the amount of people we could be connected too, and that really limited our online presence. For us critical mass is only really reached with XX amount of followers. So they killed us with the new limits. So we still post there but don't get the activity we used too. I think building new communities will help grow, and build the platform. So we wish you and other luck.

The more rules that are put in place the more frustrating it gets.

Expecting anything less from a Google platform was your first mistake, me thinks. ;)

Anyone remembers Google Waves and Google Buzz? :-)

I thought they did it right for a change and since I never used any of the others I held no prejudice at the time. Times have changes, decentralize all the things!!

What everyone needs to remember is that we are building a social media platform here. Blogging was just the first piece.

^ this right here.

Resteemed!

Thank you so much Denny!!

Great piece, I loved Google plus but gradually noticed changes which put me off and drifted away. I genuinely thought it would be the one to win at the beginning

My sentiments exactly, like a slow march to a cliff.

Hmmmm,......board/bored Nazis!!

I am in 2 minds with this. I really like the idea of a blogging ecosystem that rewards people for their content and interaction but on the flip side the mass appeal will be a more bite size social networking platform. I think one of the reasons G+ failed to retain the users attention (apart from that their friends never left Facebook) was that they tried to be too many things too everyone. Sometimes niche is what you need to complete with the behemoth that is Farcebook.

You are right Stephen. Niche is great, we just know that the Steemit time is developing many working parts to the platform currently.

Good post! To hell with the authoritarians!

Muy buen artículo @hilarski. Mi 100% y "ReSteem" :P

Gracias Amigo!!

The takers will always outvote the makers unless the rules specifically prohibit that.

You have to be proactive in setting community rules to prevent that. Preemptive authoritarianism, to be a wiseass about it. It is a contradiction to what we want to believe as folks that believe in liberty, but unless the nannystaters and do-gooders are locked out of a system, they WILL ruin it.

R. Conquest, who studied genocide in Russia under communism, had 3 laws of politics, one of which is

Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.

Nicely put Steve, if we can preempt their attempts to coop the platform we can keep them from destroying it.

Hi, Randy! You are right. I have been in social networking since 2003, that is why I perfectly understand what you are talking about. That is why I share your fears...

Since we know the signs we can inform the community and put up a barrier to protect it.

Sure, that is what I am trying to explain to my friends

It seems like every day there is a new unwritten rule. I'm trying to keep it simple #1 don't plagiarize #2 be nice.

Doug Casey says it best.

I like memes! I think it is a good balance of visual fun but getting points across like with the purists and the 'writing only" posts etc. I am a big fan of @hilarski -- Randy Hilarski writes good stuff and is helpful. (posted in a couple spots just now) -- still learning my way, I cannot focus much of my time on Steem right now sadly with my issues/accident etc etc

You will get to it Barry. I look forward to hearing your story.

Thanks for the insights! I was not aware that even the Meme project is being criticized.

Purists are not liking it.

Resteemed just now! I just found out how to do that, by reading these comments lol! I always wondered if that is what that symbol meant haha! I will support you @hilarski -- you are good people.

Shared on all my SM platforms just now too. Incl LI/Twitter/Fascistbook

Bring on the dank-ass memes.

I am sure plenty are in the works.

I always liked G+. The technology was some of the best, but it seems that certain people took against it. The media seem to be in love with Twitter. One of the issues was the lack of an API to automate posts, but that also kept the spam down.

With any social site you can't totally control how people use it. If some people decide to take over then they may manage that if they have enough support. On Steemit the whales have the real power. It's going to be interesting to see what direction(s) it takes.

I think the Steemit team is really letting developers run with the API which might more this sthing into something awesome.

I never understood G+, still don't. It's not intuitive and alien.

I always found it clearer than things like FB and Twtr

Upvoted because it is obvious from your post that you care!
Good luck to you and your projects. And good luck to all of us :)

Great outlook! Thanks for posting this!! Upvoted, resteemed, shared!

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I really appreciate it Chris!

Great article thanks for posting learned a lot. Im learning to market and express myself on social media too.