Why Hasn't Steemit.com Showed Up On "Monetize Your Content" & "Make Money Online" Sites? (And Do We Want It To?)

Those of us looking for a little extra cash (and really, who isn't?) may have found ourselves at one point or another making the attempt to earn a little extra scratch from the comfort of our own home computer. Whether it was publishing YouTube videos to crickets, slaving over an online novel with middling readership, or tirelessly wading through the swamp of scams and wasted time for a fair-paying freelance job, many of us are familiar with the struggle of trying to make a side income on the net.

But it seems like there's a never-ending supply of sites whose only job is to give you lists of ways to do just that. Usually, these sites don't take long on their lists to resort to suggesting things like selling your stuff (can't be done regularly for obvious reasons) and taking surveys online (not worth your time [trust me] and usually a scam if sometimes only in the sense of not being worth your time).

For these sites and blogs you would think that Steemit.com would be an enormous boon. These sites could write articles suggesting people come to Steemit to monetize good content. Heck, many of those sites could have their articles replicated onto the Steemit blockchain, actually bringing people in from elsewhere.

Steemit.com, The Best Kept Secret of the Internet

This would actually make a more concise title for this article, but it doesn't address the central question. Why does Steemit.com still feel like it's invisible? A lot of alt crypto enthusiasts have heard of Steem and get that it's related to some platform, but Steem still seems to have failed to make a central impact on any area of the internet as a whole. This is true even for areas where it has relatively little competition (i.e. legitimate net income).

People should be coming in by the bale full. If not to participate in the site, then at least to exploit it.

But.... Isn't Exploitation Bad?

Well yes... and no. When people attempt to exploit things, they acknowledge their value. Everything valuable in the world has people competing to participate and exploit it. This is essentially the same whether it's likes on Facebook, browsing data, bitcoin, or traditional fiat itself. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of people trying (some successfully) to exploit Steem and Steemit, but it can hardly be said that they're coming in by the boatloads.

Obviously I don't want more scammers and such on Steemit.com. But, in general, people being willing to go far for something (often exploiting it) is good for value (even if it's bad for platforms). People clamoring over themselves and going to great lengths might be good for Steem, but it would be a very hard thing for Steemit.com. Since the two are intrinsically connected (even considering the plethora of others platforms built onto the Steem blockchain) if the platform collapses due to exploitation, it would put the currency Steem in dire straits.

Or Maybe It's Fine

Over 1 million users have signed up for Steemit. Between 10 and 30 thousand new users join each week. Still early in it's third year, it's got 60,000 active accounts (users authoring posts and commenting) daily, boasting the most daily and total transactions on any blockchain to date.

Consider that there has been no advertising for Steemit outside of word-of-mouth and interviews by the CEO Ned Scott. Despite this, it's catching on worldwide with communities in the Phillipines, Korea, Mexico, Africa, and many, many more.

And Steemit Inc is still a relatively small company. If Steem exploaded onto the main stage before year's end, the company would be in a really, really rough spot.

It feels like a slow start, but these are early days. It's strange that it's discoverability on platforms like Google seems muted unless you search for Steemit or Steem directly. It also makes me wonder whether there are other interesting or potentially game-changing platforms that remain out of reach because they can't be found through Google and other traditional exploration methods.

But Steem is gaining traction, and it feels like any month, any year now it is going to explode. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have bothered writing this article.

Hey. Did you enjoy the post? Don't forget to like & Resteem! Every bit helps.