RE: Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone) Identifies Two Obstacles to Digital Long Form Journalism - Does Steem Solve One?
It’s one of the more revolutionary aspects of the Steem blockchain, most definitely.
I have long thought about this topic, also because I tend to be a longform reader, as well as a Guardian reader (you know that millennial rag British online institution which recently became a 24/7/365 beggar because they prefer page views over a paywall).
Yet, the cost of especially longform journalism is rather... ridiculous. Even platforms like the excellent longreads.com pay rather above the better rewarded content on Steem (it isn’t uncommon for articles to be bought for USD 2,000). Several years back I have also paid $500-$600 for cornerstone content articles for our blog network (quality bloggers were more expensive then).
We will have to wait and see until one of the larger media outlets, no matter whether new media or MSM starts a SMT and whether they can make it work for them. Many nowadays do occasionally attempt trials on new platforms and invest resources in those efforts. My only question about SMTs in that regard will be how will their respective legal and marketing departments feel about it. Especially if they pitch their own token as well.
Why hasn’t Medium, who don’t hide their financial woes, forked Steem yet? :D
We have already had a prolific author who has been published regularly by Rolling Stone, even cover stories, who has also published unedited cuts of his articles here on Steem. He has benefitted excellent rewards but I like to think that was the rewarding celebrity element, as well as his well-chosen topics which echoed rather well with Steemians (Elon Musk and Kurt Cobain). All in all it was stupid to see because already paid for content was rewarded to the hilt just because the author benefited geek cred, but that’s a no-kool aid reflection.
Joyoftech can’t make Steem work for them though. They suffer from not original content.
Addendum: Could it possible also be, and thus indeed be a psychological element, that you are willing to make the step to patron because you’ve accumulated upvoting prowess, rather than have financially invested in it. I, honestly, call BS on it being it a technology problem. For years we’ve seen many attempts at making micro-patronage work. From tipping, to flatter, to now the monthly subscription models powered by Patreon or Flattr’s latest incarnation, and even the BAT browser.
People just do not like taking out their credit card. It’s psychological.
Steem though makes the upvote, the reward mechanic not only flawless - easy as a like (technological) but also free for most (psychological).
You mentioned on Steem you are willing to do it to someone you don’t know, but when you actually fork out $2/month it’s for somebody who has already given you lots. That’s not a technological issue.
DUDE. Neil followed me on Twitter thanks to a Steem-related tweet I sent him, and he is to this day BY FAR my most credible social media follower. It kind of blows my mind that a guy whose books I have been reading for like a decade is now following me lol.
The same thing happened when The Needle Drop, a mega youtube music review guy, resteemed me here. He hasn't stuck around, but still, those kinds of moments make me realize how valuable my role as a "high profile" steemian is.
And on the topic of SMTs, I suspect New York Times is a high target. They have their eyes on the ball with this, as this story really shows:
Medium and Steem would be the perfect fit, but I somehow can't see the ultra-successful leaders of Medium accepting a second-fiddle role to Steem with their thing. I imagine they want Medium to save longform journalism, not to give in to Steem, even though the humble thing would be the opposite. Also, maybe Ned and his crew are just too sketchy (as seems mildly possible) for the Medium team to actually work with. Lots of unknown factors.
Regarding the psychology vs. technology -- I have to retain my original position - I think the fact that you use Patreon, Flattr, and BAT as examples goes to show how Steem is so ahead of the curve. The examples you give are generally accepted as good, but imo not actually good, as micro patronage platforms. Only Steem has made it really work so far.
Patreon is close for sure, but it can never achieve mainstream success in my opinion - both for your psychological credit card reason and other factors. IDK. I agree the credit card thing is real, but the true and ultimate obstacle IMO is the lack of a simple "tip $0.10" kind of button.
Like forget about the credit card. Imagine you could literally put a dime into a slot in your computer to tip the creator of the content you are enjoying. As ludicrous as it is, this would be the ultimate technology for patronage, right? It would be an improvement on the credit card technology by eliminating the fear / hassle of protecting and sharing the credit card data with the web app. We can't do it that way, but we have to find the realistic alternative, which is even better than putting a dime into your computer. At least that's the foundation of my view for the moment, though I can see that there's much more to be explored