Steem is not social media unless

Some people like to see Steem as a social media platform and expect everyone to adhere to the social media conventions as expected on other platforms. I once did too, a long time ago before I recognised the system for what it is. What people forget is the primary function of social media platforms isn't the community upon it, it is the monetization, the mining of that community to create wealth. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are economic models designed to increase shareholder wealth.

The users need not have that view though.

The centralized systems are economic ecosystems that through a thousand different ways create value streams that draw value from the user in some way, whether it be selling vegetables on Farmville, buying views on Instagram or selling user data to advertisers. On top of this, there are all of the associated economic models that piggyback themselves upon the platforms from app creators to retailers. This is again compounded by investors who are looking to maximize their investment returns.

Does it all sound social? It all depends on the view one has doesn't it? I have friends who design for Supercell and Rovio but if asked, they won't reply "I make my income from monetizing my designs on social media". They are programmers who code.

Even though Steem has facets of the social media experience, it isn't strictly social media unless one uses it as strictly social media. Not many do. The reason they don't use it in the same way is because there is an economic model that they have direct access to that isn't available on the large centralized platforms. Everyone here is monetized.

This fundamentally changes it from Social Media to an economic ecosystem designed to maximize shareholder wealth by mining social interaction. There are still the aspects of social media in play but for each individual the view of the platform and therefore the identity of the platform is going to shift. One person can see it as a s SoMe while another sees it as an investment mechanism, one could see it as a sales channel while another sees it as an opportunity to build a business. Some might see it as a way to protect their content, another a way to protect themselves politically or economically.

What this means is that even though there is a layer of social interaction, what drives people is fundamentally different to that of social media because it gives people the chance to operate from more points than just user and any one person can maintain several positions within the platform. This means that depending where they are standing at any given time, what Steem appears to be to them can fundamentally change while at the exact same time, someone else sees a different view.

This is a community that operates like any community would. It is not a social media, it is a near complete ecosystem that allows all aspects of a normal community to produce, buy and support each other economically. It becomes very uncomfortable when people start to introduce economic relationships into social environments because, people like to keep Business and Personal separate. However, the economic model of Steem is inextricably linked to the social aspect.

Again, what this means is that even if one person sees an interaction as social, the other can see it as transactional and purely financial. While the first is using it as a social media, the second can be using it as an investment mechanism. This makes the system much more complex than a social media site as it is near impossible to understand which hat someone is wearing at any one time.

Someone like me will say that all human interaction is social including all interaction in the workplace while others will limit it to non-business related interaction. Well in most business arrangements, the relationships built are vital to the economic model. This is why on Steem people keep driving the ideas of success through engagement whereas on Facebook, no one is saying the same except, those who are looking to monetize.

In just about every business model, building relationships is the core component which is done in many ways but all contains some form of content. Does that make all businesses social media? If the case is that every business function, investment, code and customer / client / colleague / employee /friend /family relationship is classified as social media then yes, Steem is a social media platform because it includes all aspects of any community. All of society is social media by this definition, it is all inclusive which makes the definition itself, irrelevant and useless. Meaningless.

It doesn't really matter though how you see it nor how I see it other than how we see it is going to change our behaviours. What does likely matter for any individual experience here though is that if they take a narrow view of the platform and label what it is meant to be by their definition, they are going to have their expectations consistently unmet because how others see and use it is not often going to align with their own view.

What the beauty of this community ecosystem is that it empowers each of us to find our place and utilize it for both our own needs and the needs of others within the community. It is us who own our position here and we are able to affect it in various ways through a whole range of possibilities that are not only open to us but, we can actually build or encourage to have built for the future.

In my view, sticking the limitation of Social Media on this place limits the psychological opportunities people think they have available to them as instead of exploring the environment and learning to build, they will work on their default mechanisms programmed over decades and centuries by centralized authorities. Authorities that want a platform of consumers, not a platform of counterparts.

This is the power of a decentralized community with freedom of voice and ability to create change because it becomes an organic and constantly evolving environment driven by the people themselves. Rather than enforcing correspondence to a narrow set of rules, we can each find our own way and, find people who will support and we can support to further our journey. Not everyone is designed for this though or perhaps, not everyone wants to be a part of this and would rather have others tell them what to do.

We all have our views, most are limited and narrow. This place is so, so much more than a Social Media but if you see it as such, use it as such but don't be surprised if others do not use it in the same way. I personally like to wear many hats and play in many areas of the platform, just like I do in the core social media platform most call: Life.

We have a chance to take responsibility and ownership over all facets of a community together and some people want to recreate what they have always known. It is no surprise, we have been programmed to keep the Status Quo.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]