Steemit CEO, Ned Scott, Interviewed On Bloomberg
I almost missed this, but thanks to the fact that I'm following Steemit communities on other social media network too (like on Twitter and Facebook) I caught it just in time. So, less than a day ago, @ned was interviewed live on Bloomberg where he talked about STEEM and Steemit.
If you're impatient, here's the link
I personally think @ned did a great job at trying to explain what Steemit is and how content is tied up in the blockchain as a value generator.
But that also reminded me how revolutionary this project really is. I mean, as someone who knows the ins and outs of the platform for almost an year and a half, hearing how Bloomberg anchors (quite well intended, after all) were asking questions like: "so you generate revenue by advertising, right" made me realize that we, as Steemians, we're really living in the future. Granted, Steemit is a project hard to grasp and I don't think it can be explained in under 5 minutes. But the fact that this project actually works is in stark contrast with the current status quo in the business world. And this status quo is limited to "the Facebook model" were data is sold to advertisers in order to generate revenue.
It really amazes me how obsolete this model is, and yet, how popular and really ubiquitous in people minds, when they think about "making money with a social media website". No, selling users data to companies so they can do some social engineering in order to sell them stuff is not the only business model for social media. Not to mention this model won't "plant" a very good karma, so to speak...
But back to the potential impact of this interview. Although the markets are retracing right now and the interview didn't seem to push STEEM higher, I think it will be useful. Whoever is interested in the blockchain-based social networks (and still watches Bloomberg) saw what it was to be seen.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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I know the feeling. That's why I created steem.supply, an easy to use and accurate tool for calculating your Steemit rewards |
Steemit is the future no doubt. And there are many layers to the platform. Its like every month I discover things like delegation or the market or bots etc.. explaining it to people without having them use it is hella hard
Nice job.
I haven't done my research, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, but the last bit of the interview is the most interesting bit for me.
Smart Media Tokens - this allows other websites and applications to use a crypto currency to reward their users - basically bypassing the whole R&D cycle for these sites, so they can jump into the game.
This is huge for these guys, and this (to me) says there there are some serious business smarts going on here.
The people who made the most money during the gold rush days were not the miners. Most made nothing. some made a small fortune.
But the people who consistently made a big fortunes were the people selling shovels - to miners.
That's what SMTs are. That tells me these guys know where the real money is and what they need to do to get it.
I respectfully disagree with this - I am quite bullish on STEEM and love that Ned is out doing some marketing and gaining attention, but I think his responses needed to be MUCH simpler and clearer on something like this.
I suspect that overwhelming majority of people who would be watching this could not really follow what he was saying at all.
Yeah, that's just @ned overcomplicated ways of talking and probably I am way too accustomed to it. But he stroke a balance between being truthful (not serving deceiving, crypto-wood-lamguage phrases like: "it will revolutionize social media") and being appealing. Like I said, I think the audience of Bloomberg is not "simple people", but mostly people into investing and @ned tried to talk in their language.
But, as always, I may be wrong :)
I also saw that bloomberg interview and had to roll my eyes a few times when they kept asking about advertising revenue because they are not really getting the idea of Steem and reward pool but then I didn't understand it either when I first started.
It will be pretty interesting what will happen in the next few months.
i was wondering if it were just me or if the markets experienced a near 30 cent drop in STEEM/USD right about the time, or shortly thereafter, that Ned was speaking. I thought he did a good job of correcting some of the questions with his answers, but I wasn't as happy with his insistence that STEEM is a speculative asset just like any other cryptocurrency. I know it's true, but I wished he would have found a different way to phrase it or at least redirected the question to some of the other points he made about its utility.
What I found quite interesting is that one of the comments had a straw man statement like, "What do you say to some who think the quality on Steemit is low and that users are only their to make a quick buck?" It was almost as if the ongoing complaints and quarrels we have here on site was played out word for word.
I don't think it would be good for him to stress too much on the "intrinsic" value of STEEM, because, as you said, it is a speculative asset right now. In order for STEEM to be presented as more than just that, it would need bigger adoption and usage, especially in e-commerce. For that, you will need a stable coin, which is SBD, which is now far away from the peg.
I want @ned to do more outreach for the Steem community and his company. One of pieces to this puzzle that has been missing is a serious "charm offensive" and crystal clear and constant communication with the world at large.
It's not only steemit, it's the blockchain. I tried to explain it to an admin and he had difficulties grasping it... it's decentralisation that really stuns them. Somehow it's like an alien idea that was planted by Jedi Knights :D
And steemit is indeed revolutionary with all its burdens, pettiness and wars, which somehow makes it more fascinating, cause it's the real mirror. Its beauty probably comes from brutality and lack of scruples. It's raw... like a jungle, but that's how you know it's fresh and has ways to grow... nobody really gives a fuck about you and I find it very refreshing :)
thank you for sharing @dragosroua! It's interesting to hear the Steemit business model explained by @ned and how quality content is still a great challenge. Also, another critical aspect that came out already in the last weeks are the new SMTs that will come up from the Steem Blockchain!
Lol i still spoke about this today
A lot of heavy investors follow bloomberg, im sure the word will be out more now, and this will spark some more interest into steemit and steem
Excellent very interesting, the interview was very complete