RE: Curation Won't Grow STEEM Like Commerce Will
You hit it right on the money. Curation is all well and good, but that's only a part of the blockchain todaty.
STEEM is no longer just a blockchain aimed at the digital content business, which it was initially designed to disrupt. In a way, it has become more than that. Thanks to developments like Splinterlands and the other games based on STEEM, it is now also a gaming blockchain. And with Steem-Engine, it has also added a decentralized exchange aspect to it. (Ironic that both developments came from the same group of individuals.)
It's all about perspective, I guess. And by that, I mean we need to start looking at STEEM as part of the larger economy where regular money is still in use, and where people who have no idea about blockchain and cryptocurrency exist. So, alongside all these economic improvement proposals aimed at curation and content should be efforts to make it easier for everyone else to use the STEEM blockchain for things that have nothing to do with curation or content.
And, as you pointed out, these other things mostly revolve around commerce. Efforts that make it easier to open and use accounts, trade STEEM into fiat and other cryptocurrencies, send STEEM to individuals without a STEEM account (i.e. something that would automatically convert STEEM into another currency so a STEEM user can work with non-STEEM users and vice versa).
Don't get me wrong. I like that they are continuously trying to improve the curation system to make it as "fair" as possible to as many stakeholders. But, is that really the most pressing agenda for the blockchain, at the moment?
Hey, @cryptocopy.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We're pretty much aligned as far as our thought processes go. :)
There are definitely some non-social media stuff happening here, and I think that's good. Diversification in the kinds of things one can spend their time here doing is helpful. There's been attempts at stores and other things that have not quite made it off the ground, and that's too bad because those are fairly low level entry points and some of the first things that internet 1.0 was able to incorporate.
So, we are definitely starting to see some things.
And I really like the idea of some kind of mechanism for converting STEEM into any fiat and cryptocurrency automatically. I like the idea of the vice versa even better. :)
I've seen some of the stores you've mentioned. It's really too bad they haven't caught on, yet. It could be a great way to help people in the blockchain build a thriving business using STEEM. I mean, imagine if SteemGigs or another similar website/service got mainstream recognition. Right now, though, most products or services being sold using STEEM are just for blockchain-related projects, which is still a pretty small space.
And yeah, it would be nice to be able to exchange fiat for STEEM without jumping through too many hoops, every time.