I'm my third highest supporter of my work. I self vote. So what. Any vote under a 50/50 model is half self vote. Many who you call whiners often don't understand this economy we've created here.
I don't think people are complaining too much about self votes. I think many disagree with the effort that goes in to what some with a lot of SP will self vote, 10 times per day. I think if they were acting more responsibly, there would be less of a problem. Especially when many of them have the most to lose. I realize they will blame the code but that's much like saying they only shoot themselves in the foot because the gun has a trigger.
I don't normally self vote my own comments but I thought it would be funny today.
I do realize purchasing Steem to self vote is one way to make this place appealing to an investor, but the main problem with that is the fact there are far more people on this planet who are not investors, those people have more money, and it's better for business to appeal to them.
The true investor here should be able to see the potential, and the smart ones would see that potential being flushed down the toilet by those acting in ways that diminish the true potential, so they will not invest. The true investor should be able to invest and see a profit, while everyone else does the work; rather than shitposting 10 times per day to a nonexistent audience.
It's easy to purchase Steem and self vote low effort garbage nobody cares about. What that behavior fails to do is provide an incentive for consumers to purchase Steem so they too can benefit by the simple act of consuming content. Nobody is interested in a one liner post about how that smart investor likes toilet paper. Millions of people would be interested in never throwing their money away again in order to be entertained.
It's not impossible for established content producers to ask 10000 people for donations. They do it all the time. If they were wise to the business model this platform can provide, that content producer could easily encourage 10000 people to pull 2.5 million Steem from the market and lock it in as SP. The consumer already spends the money. Steem can offer them a better deal. That content producer would be able to carry on doing well on this platform, without the need or desire to earn existing votes from SP holders already here. That content producer will not want to show up though if the platform isn't acting professionally.
If the groundwork was set and people actually wanted to make money here, it's not impossible to have something like potentially 1 million coming into the platform with potentially quarter million flowing out because of that million. If anyone wants to make money, you need that surplus.
The business model here is quite simple. A teenager working in a fast food restaurant should be able to pick up enough of the business basics to know the establishment cannot make money if the owner purchases a franchise, makes all the burgers, buys all the burgers, and ensures the tables remain empty.
Why that basic business sense floats over so many investor heads around here has always baffled me.
It's because most investors think short term and not long term, especially most professional ones.
It's about quarterly, maximum yearly profit margins.
And that only works for this economy if it's only a small part of what's happening. The place needs thousands of workers, and millions upon millions of consumers who already spend the money in the same fashion, we just need that money here instead of where they throw it away.
Let's be honest, it's all a question of manipulation (marketing) and hype (FOMO).
If some random celebs sign up here to be rewarded by their followers you'd see some decent money flow coming in and then other people joining in causing a chain reaction -> causing a very nice situation for us.
The #1 Steem needs right now is decent marketing and that not only from the content provider side but also from the DApp platform side.
Marketing to the consumer.
In the OP he's talking about what the crypto crowd would do. That's such a small market that they don't really matter and appealing to them would be shooting far too low.
I don't know if you read this post but I suggest you do, mainly so I don't have to repeat myself so much.
The question is always ''why would someone purchase steem to reward people" and I've answered countless times, many different ways.
I had said many times at different places already as well. Why do we need whales to enter, for the health of the platform, ten thousand people purchasing 1000 steem would be much better.
The problem I still see is that the entry barrier to crypto for normal people is relatively high still.
Millions of people are always willing to spend less.
You're right about the entry but at one point in Canada I could go to a retailer and purchase STEEM. I'm not sure if that still exists and I can't remember the name of the company providing the service.
So before marketing I'd want to make purchasing easier. Then go nuts. The entertainment industry business model is where it's at for the simple fact the people already spend the money... and I'll just keep yelling at the clouds and sounding like a fool until I get my way.. LOL!