Could this be the beginning of the end of Facebook? User complaints, no privacy, and data sharing seem to be in the news a lot lately. Is it time for something better to take over? Could Steemit and the Steem ecosystem be the ones to take Facebook's place?
I happened to be on Facebook today when I came across several posts giving instructions on how to delete your account. You can read the instructions on how delete your account here. I don't mean deactivating it, I mean completely deleting it. I have never really seen posts about it before today. From what I've read so far it appears that Facebook is reportedly under FTC investigation for sharing user data.
From the article which you can read in full here:
"Facebook agreed to the settlement, known as a consent decree, in 2011, after allegedly deceiving users over how much personal information they were sharing. The FTC argued that Facebook had misled users by not explaining, among other problems, how much data third-party apps received. As part of the settlement, Facebook agreed to rules governing its users’ privacy, including receiving express consent before using data beyond privacy settings." -The Verge
and
"After news broke last week that Cambridge Analytica obtained information on 50 million Facebook users through a seemingly innocuous app, starting in 2014, some former FTC officials behind the 2011 order speculated yesterday in The Washington Post about whether Facebook had violated the decree. If the FTC ultimately decides Facebook did violate the agreement, the company could be open to millions in fines, according to the Post — not to mention even more public outrage for violating the landmark privacy deal." -The Verge
Most People Do Not Care About Privacy, Yet
When I talk to people about privacy, a lot of people I know have told me that companies using their information or selling it to other people doesn't really bother them. I think we, as a society are so used to our whole lives being shared on Social Media that we rarely think of the implications we might face later down the road.
I have to admit I felt that same way about privacy a couple years ago. When I heard some backlash about Amazon's Alexa constantly listening to everything it picks up my first thought was "Well, if you have nothing to hide what is the problem?" I realize now that that way of thinking is wrong. I think getting into cryptocurrency, especially researching the first crypto I ever bought (Pillar) changed my mind. Pillar is trying to change the way we protect our information with their wallet.
Taking back our information will be the next revolution, and blockchain tech and decentralization is the answer we have all been waiting for. Other people might be slower to learn but they will understand it eventually.
People Are Getting Sick of Facebook
User retention is down across the board for Facebook, and after being on the site for more than 10 minutes anyone can guess why. They marketed Facebook as being "free" but in reality while you are not paying for a monthly subscription you are paying with your personal data. The whole thing is 100% based on showing you ads. People are getting sick of it. They are leaving. This is a prime opportunity for something to take its place... something better, something decentralized, ..something like Steemit.
But is Steemit ready for a billion users? No....not yet at least. And if you need proof of that, ask my friend who signed up only a couple days after I did, and never received a confirmation email to finish setting up his account. I ended up using Steem Connect to make an account for him, and delegated him some of my Steem Power.
My friend would make an amazing addition to the Steemit Community. He is traveling all across North and South America in a van he and his girlfriend built out for a 6 month trip. His blogging and photography skills are incredible, and he makes amazing content. Alas, he has yet to start his account, even after I delegated him. He might have lost interest. He might just be busy right now travelling, who knows. I am disappointed that he had to wait for me to figure out how to work around the system to join here.
Steemit Needs to Implement Changes Soon to be Ready for the Mass Exodus from Facebook
I am quite literally, a noob here. But I do know some things that I think need to be changed in order for Steemit to rival Facebook.
The user registration process NEEDS TO BE FASTER. I know that Ned and the others mentioned this in a recent video and they said they are changing the way they are on boarding people. I have yet to see this change implemented. It doesn't need to be instant, but it needs to be faster than weeks. People lose interest in things quickly, especially if they are made to wait forever to get an account registered.
The website needs to be simplified. It took me weeks of reading endlessly to finally get how things work around here. The average person will not bother. It took over a week for me to realize that the price of SBD was no longer pegged, and I was really trying hard to learn as fast as I could.
There needs to be a good mobile app. I know this is another thing that Ned said they were working on, and they also mentioned that they refuse to release an app until its perfect, but this should be a main priority. Most people use their phones for everything. I specifically bought a laptop for Steemit, but 99% of users wont.
The Communities Feature needs to be implemented. Steemit started off as a blogging platform, but the only way it will ever be mass adopted is if it becomes less of a blogging platform and more of a "Social Media" platform. Most people do not know how to write content. Sure we are used to sharing tid- bits of our lives, but not writing actual articles. I really do think that Communities on Steemit will allow this place to turn into a place for discourse. From what I understand you will be able to go into different communities like you would "sub reddits" on Reddit.
Yes I know that the trending page needs to be addressed as well, I know that when I started here I saw posts with thousand dollars payouts and thought I could do the same. Other people will get discouraged too.
I know that a lot of people have other complaints about Steemit like the "whale wars" but the other points I mentioned are things that I think will come eventually. If Ned and Steemit Inc want their SMT dream to become reality, I think they need to perfect their flagship product . How can you promise such a revolutionary concept and how well it will work when you don't make your example of it (Steemit) the best it can be? I hope that Steemit isn't going by the wayside while they focus on SMTs.
So, are you still using Facebook? Do you think that Steemit can handle the masses of people that are going to come on board if we start another bull run in the crypto-sphere? Do you have any ideas that could make Steemit better? I would love to hear from you in the comments below! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, I appreciate it! -Emily
Great post, I think Facebook will keep on ticking. Years ago Zuch called anyone who used Facebook a "dumb fuck" if people are still willing to give him info after that this isn't going to change anything.
I think people also have just kind of caved and assume that everyone is selling info about them these days. Alexa and Google devices are listening to what we say around the house, your playstation is spying on you as well as your smart tv, it's just a part of life.
In terms of if Facebook went down tomorrow would Steemit be ready to take over, absolutely not. I guess firstly they aren't the same type of platform, connecting with my grandma and sharing pictures of my nephew isn't really something Steemit was meant to do so they are two very different platforms. That said Steemit has a LONG way to go to be considered a major core social platform, I hope it does happen but honestly I'm getting discouraged lately. Check the new tab and Steemit is nothing but garbage content. We as a community need to start taking power away from bots and we also need to start flagging terrible content like people posting stock images on here, it just clogs up the platform and makes it harder to find the content of people actually putting in effort and creating interesting content
Omg Ive never read that quote from him before, if thats true, thats awful! I know that ive mentioned this a million times before but I really do believe that the implementation of "communities" on Steemit could be the thing to make it on par with Reddit or even Facebook. Facebook has turned very "group-centric"over the last couple years with many people not spending their time on their news feed but in groups dedicated to whatever they enjoy. I admin a group on Facebook of almost 14,000 women.
It would also take care of the Trending and new tabs, and it would render most of the bidbots useless since the tags are so general and people would never spend that much to promote a post inside a group (or at least I think no one would)
The other thing is yes, there needs to be more manual curation of good content, which is what Ned should be delegating instead of giving so much SP to dmania, which is 99% stolen memes. There should be at least 1 or 2 huge curators for each tag, looking through everything coming through the new and hot sections. But what do I know...I am a plankton lol
I would love to see groups, would make it alot easier to connect with likeminded people and alot easier to find the type of content we each like to consume. Plus communities foster further growth as well.
True, some of the Facebook groups I'm a bit reluctant to leave, but I dont post on them anymore because I'm here, chatting to you lot :)
Nowadays I just check my notifications for my groups on Facebook to see if I'm missing an event - I don't scroll through the feed at all. Too many ads. I don't post like I did years ago. It all seems really fake. It's interesting to see young people are less into it - my 20 year old son couldn't give a shit about it, despite what older people say i.e 'they are always on facebook' - bollocks are they! Well I hope not.
I think it's so obvious - the data is more important than the product itself. And data drives industry. If you don't see that, you really are a frog in a slowly heating pond. Ten years ago, it was the wild west and that was fucking great. You could read an independent review on a film just by searching, now you have to DIG for an independent review. And people are too lazy to dig. Hell, facebook and other data gatherers RELY on people's laziness!
Your friend - now they are the interesting folk I want to connect with on steemit. Instagram USED to be like that too, but I never meet people on there anymore - it's all ads. The old friends I met on there, I still have, but it's been a long while since I've met anyone interesting and not trying to push an agenda or make a buck. Yeah, steemit is harder - i have no idea how to do anything on here but it seems there's reward in it somewhere, not financially, but something else. I've definately had more good, interesting conversations with interesting folk on here than I have on my other social networks in some time, and though I dont get many views yet, I reckon people here are more interested too - facebook is just bored scrolling and people's FOMO.
I hope that answers some of your questions?
Yes it does :) Thanks so much for stopping by @riverflows! Im sure that youll get the hang of it, I am still learning too!
Two tin cans connected with a piece of string is a superior social networking platform to Facebook. Facebook is done, it will continue but it will decline, there are better options out there as well as the undesirability of having your soul harvested.
Here is an image from a Zerohedge article displaying the shelf life of Facebook. Zuck would be better off just giving up now because his little project is finished.
Yep, I'm still using facebook, but not so much as I used to before. Facebook has some cool features like facebook group.
It would be fantastic if we have something like community/group based on common interest. Since steemit is still in Beta version, I'm optimistic that steemit would be a tough competitor for facebook.
I was up at Facebook in Jan and really wanted to tell Zuck that I was on steemit but I bit my tongue because I was there for other reasons lol. But Facebook and youtube are in big trouble but you are right, Steemit is not ready. There are some easy solutions that will help if we all play nice but human nature will be an obstacle to us scaling . I hope for the best but I expect a bumpy ride
I expect a bumpy ride too.... but hey, no risk no reward...we gotta see where this whole thing takes us :)
I am absolutely disgusted with facebook for going through our data that we search on the internet. They know everything.. but it is our fault. Isn’t it? Because we never read terms and conditions and always tap “i agree” in order to move forward and i am 100% sure that there would be some clause in those T&Cs which says that facebook is allowed to access your browsing history and browsing trends.
So yeah. Time is mear when facebook would implode. Perfect opportunity for steemit to sweep in and take the throne.
On a totally unrelated note, are you by any chance related to hillary duff?
LOL, no.....I dont think so. I am also half asian so, thats funny that you think I might look like her. :D
You are right, we have never paid attention to what we are agreeing to when we sign up for these sites, but maybe people will know better now. (Most people still wont care about their information being sold, but the smart ones will...and the smart ones are the ones we want here on Steemit)
Haha well.. to me, you surely look like her .. and i couldn’t agree more about us needing smart ones to move to steemit..
Steemit has a beautiful system. It automatically plucks out unwanted people and contain those who are smart and hard working..
Such a valueable post. The market is ready to be captured, steemit needs to move quickly and grab it.
If I had to vote on one priority over others it would be a simplified phone app. How about no need for * in order to italics. Or ** to bold text. That is the stiff no one will learn and everyone will be frustrated over.
Also make payouts more simple. Clear. I study and study and its hard enough for me to get this stuff.
Great post. Upvoted andrl resteemed.
Yeah, I had no idea about html or markdown when I started here and it took me days to figure it out. With the way people are these days its going to get tough to get people to learn, so things need to be ultra simplified to catch most people and get them hooked here. Thanks for stopping by again @infidel1285, I always appreciate your input!
I THINK STEEMIT WOULD BE THE TOP DOG. ALL THE OTHER SITES ARE OK AND MOST FOR BUSINESS BUT STEEMIT IS GETTING THE JOYS THAT DONT NO TO MUCH AND THAT IS KEY MORE PEOPLE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PLATFORM TO GROW
There is no comparison. Steemit is more like Medium. Facebook is not a blogger, just a spam posting site and a collection of shit stuff you don't need.