Ever since being introduced to Bitcoin early 2013 I have been waiting for a killer app to arrive.
Bitcoin has great features in that it stores value and is borderless, but the people I show it to often complain about its complexity and learning curve.
In fact, when I first heard about bitcoin I immediately dismissed it as a ponzi or a bubble...and I'm not alone. Almost everyone I talk to about bitcoin has to be convinced that it's a good idea and not some ridiculous scam.
When I discovered Steem on this past Monday I was blown away. Here is an actual use of blockchains that speaks to the community of social networkers. And since discovering it and showing it to others, not one has asked if its a scam, because they get what it's trying to do. Not only that, but they have quickly and easily been able to set up accounts and start using the site without spending a dime.
This truly is an amazing creation...when you start to use it you begin to see the benefits of this incentivized up vote system. The quality of trending posts are rock solid and I feel like I'm genuinely learning from them.
You're most likely aware of these things already, but I'm just so floored by what Steemit is and what it's trying to do.
I can imagine a world in the future where all major publications and news companies post to Steem. Entire industries of bloggers and news aggregators should crop up because of this incredible use of the Blockchain.
I remember reading about app developers in early 2009 who were making a ton of money for developing simple apps... I think were on the same trajectory... In just a few years others will be reading articles about us working full time six figure jobs from home by blogging.
I love bitcoin, and I still hope to see it succeed, but with platforms like Steemit, I think the competition is heating up!
Note: imgsafe.org is down, but imagine pretty pictures of decentralized networks and social media platforms...you'll get the gist ;)
I'm worried that this hack will ruin all the fun. The first thing thousands of new visitors see is a big security announcement about a recent hack. When people lose money due to the 25% drop it will create uncertainty, distrust, anger, anxiety and an overall bad name for something that was just launched. Hopefully as a community we will be able to get past all the negativity and continue to grow.
Bitcoin had Mount Gox. And in this instance no one lost anything since everything was fixed. If anything it will allow more user's to learn about the platform and allow it to grow.
You're right, and the fact that the Steem price has not absolutely cratered in the past few days is absolutely stunning. There have been some oddly well timed dumps on Bittrex that just happened to coincide perfectly with steemit.com getting taken offline... and Steem held its ground. I've been in the crypto space for years now and have never seen anything like this. The security issues were more like stress testing, and Steem passed with flying colors. So while you have a very good point, I would argue the outcome was actually positive. Lots of attention and a very, very resilient share price. Amazing!
We will see. As a newbie to cryptcurrency who has heard about Bitcoin but not used it yet it is very confusing and complex wanting to BUY some Steem.
And the main question will be how the mainstream masses will behave. They must get convinced to leave the established platform where a lot of great content has accumulated over the years and where all their friends are. But the idea to get some form of payment for posts and partecipating has some merit...
Getting paid to do something you're already doing elsewhere for free. What would you do? And come to think of it, you're already here... :D This is going to be incredible.