Getting Tired of This Gig!
Whenever the crypto markets get a bit shaky we end up with the inevitable chorus of people saying ”I'm getting out of crypto!”
To be honest, I'm starting to develop some reservations of my own. However these reservations have little to do with the market prices being down and a lot more to do with the general development and direction of the crypto industry as a whole.
As our own Hive token is playing around with three-year lows at a time when Bitcoin has recently been playing with all time highs... and while that's a bit depressing, what really gives me cause for reservation is the overall notion that this industry is becoming more and more "gimmicky."
Resorting to gimmicks tends to be an indication that a thing has/may have reached the point where the fundamentals are going nowhere and instead people are resorting to — to borrow an old entertainment industry term — "jump the shark" in order to save itself.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but "giving away free stuff" is not a business model. Well... it might be a business model if you're a promotional company that gathers free stuff to give away and get paid by the manufacturers who give you the free stuff — which are usually sample sizes of the real thing that costs money. Simply giving away free stuff has no sustainable longevity.
The crypto industry seems to give away more and more free stuff with every passing month...
I look around me and I consider the original promises of cryptocurrency as an actual form of payment and I look at what we have now. Then I look at the ratio of projects in this industry that actually have a business model that includes revenue generation in some fashion relative to the number of projects that simply exist for their own sake and they only gain attention by giving away large volumes of their token in either airdrops or free giveaways while the number of actual business plans out there is minuscule.
There's a certain irony in this that is not entirely lost on me, in that so much of the philosophical energy behind crypto is offered by people whose entire premise is that we "need" crypto because traditional fiat money is about printing presses (in the form of endless airdrops) just running and the currency being inflationary and becoming worth less and less.
And yet, in the course of the approximate decade I've been involved in this circus, the entire approach has radically shifted from that original premise to being yet another way for people to somehow get "money for nothing."
I'm not trying to tar the entire industry with that same brush, however I am beginning to think (and hence my hesitations) that the entire industry needs a bit of an image makeover in order for it to have a chance of being in any way relevant and sustainable in the long term.
Consider something like "Hamster Kombat," the latest viral phenomenon of the crypto world. Somehow, a small Telegram based mini game has managed to attract 300 MILLION users.
What interests me about it isn't so much the fact that hundreds of millions of people are involved, as the fact of where the most potential revenue for the game founders is coming from.
Consider that it isn't the crypto activity that is earning an income, it's the fact that their (alleged) 300 million users have resulted in a YouTube channel with more than 35 million subscribers, and by most metrics the ad revenue generated by the number of views coming from those subscribers amounts to something on the order of US $50,000-$100,000 a day.
That's definitely not chump change but it comes from conventional ad revenues from a legacy economy project that pays in fiat. The crypto isn’t generating all that money, the legacy economy is. The crypto seems more like "window dressing."
To be fair, I'm sure there are some dedicated fans who are parting with their TON tokens to buy game boosts and advantages... but the entire premise hangs on the idea that game play will earn you free airdrop tokens, and we're right back at "money for nothing."
And no, I'm not really getting out of crypto, but I'm limiting my exposure to anything that isn't actually trying to be a crypto-based business, with some sort of direction.
Web 3.0 might be amazing, but we'd do well to remember that tokens aren't the product, merely the vehicle to drive the product... whatever it might be!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2024-09-04 23:59 PDT
1206/2463
So strange we've been sitting here for years creating products, combined with this fascinating payment system that makes everything affordable for the consumer, proving crypto can actually be something more than just a gamble or a giveaway, and it's treated like a nuisance.
I still think the biggest "problem" crypto faces - and I don't specifically mean Hive, in this context - is creating itself a new image that's not so mired down in a pervasive "get rich quick" subtext.
We've been over this before, but Hive desperately needs consumers. I'm mildly hopeful in that there are initiatives now to make it simpler to have a Hive account.
Of course, the other challenge is that for so many who create here, this is their first and often only social media experience, so they don't have X accounts with 100K followers to tell about their Hive posts...
Yeah. Unfortunately that first and only crowd has been the "target audience" for a long time now. Plenty of benefits here established people aren't even aware of. And the longer all this is kept a secret combined with all the those empty seats, the harder it gets.
For some reason I refuse to give up on it. Not even hope. It's determination. The pace is slow but it's moving.
I hope you are right, but I have always believed people vote with their feet. Steemit started the same year as TicTok...
I don't see this one exploding like that. There's a lot of content on the internet and people who could benefit from using this tech in the long run, combined with a solid payment system that appeals to consumers. Solid location able to tap into a global market. The arts and information in general would benefit the most. Communication as well. People discussing these things.
People look at social media and think cloning that and following those footsteps leads to success. But there's a much larger section of the internet that doesn't quite fit in to that model, yet could still benefit from elements taken from traditional social media.
Thing is, I can't write what I have in mind then expect it to actually take shape. People are going in a million and one directions here. Some are scrambling, trying to be tik tok. Some are building games. Some are trying to direct people into a comfort zone in order to build stake. Some just want to earn tokens with as little effort as possible, while others provide those opportunities.
One can only sit, wait, watch, and expect at some point, people will catch on.
If we do end up having an "Alt coin rally" and Hive somehow finds it way back up to about $1.00 (simply "by association")... no doubt there'll be a fresh influx of people seeking their "fortunes," as well as a substantial return of people who left, at one time or another.
I'm not going to give up on it, either.
Perhaps the best we can do is simply to continue using the venue in the way we feel makes the most sense.
I've made no secret of the reason I found my way here being the resemblance to "social blogging" that was so popular between 1999 and Facebook getting serious traction (2006?). Before MySpace and Facebook made actually SAYING something largely optional and we instead ended up with the current popularity contest soup, people talked about their lives, interests and daily thoughts.
Talked.
In blog format.
And people talked back. People talking back and following was the effect of actually saying something interesting in the eyes of whatever niche you appealed to. What mattered was authenticity, regardless of whether your gig was art, psychology, guns or raising kids.
All I can do is stay true to creating that stage, and hope that those who find that particular approach appealing come for a visit, now and then.
You're coming up on your 8-year mark here; I'm at about 7 1/2. We do what we do.
Sometimes we complain.
But we do what we do.
For me I realized it was a place I could come and entertain an audience. Did that.
Then I realized the audience was stagnating; more people coming as people are leaving.
Then I noticed these are all people trying to be content creators, often struggling to find an audience, and eventually leaving. Very few actual consumers.
Then I realized no matter how hard I try, I won't get any further than the common practices and culture dating back eight years allows.
Being a realistic human, paying attention to the signs, I realized there's no future traveling down the same path, due to things beyond my control.
So I'll stick around, maybe and rarely post some thoughts, but going the extra mile will lead me over a cliff.
It's certainly not a complaint and I don't mind pointing at the problem and offering potential solutions, mainly because I'd prefer to see people and the platform succeed. But it'll always be difficult for people to see it as a problem, since the behavior pays them anyway, regardless.
@denmarkguy @nonameslefttouse - I've given up on the economic aspect. I use this place because I like some of the people here - you two included, and for some reason people gives more complex and interesting feedback here. It is also more diverse than other decentralised networks...
And for crypto... I don't know anymore. It has become a bit of a tragedy I think. As you write Denmarkguy it should be used as payment for work, not wild pyramidshemes, and smartery
I admit I'm in a similar situation. I enjoy the talks a lot. Met a lot of interesting people. Couldn't find that anywhere else.
And we are using this as a payment system for work, but the culture and common practices don't allow for it to extend outside. Therefore it won't make money. I enjoy the challenge of trying to change that. Probably won't get anywhere. lol
Things change and I just tag along and see where it leads. Neither a crash, nor utopia I guess.
Thanks for stopping by @katharsisdrill, always nice to "see" you!
I remember ending up here because I got so fed up and tired with the external world's (specifically Facebook) outright mean and combative attitudes in the wake of the 2016 US Presidential election. Like you, I found people here to give much more respectful and intelligent commentary. And so, I decided to "put my tent" here, as it were.
The economic aspect has become minimal for me. I'll let my HP balance build... and maybe in ten more years it will have enough value for Mrs. Denmarguy and I to buy an RV and travel around America for a while. Or not. I'm not attached.
Yea, I just pump up the Hivepower like you - then at least I can give some good upvotes.
There are so many useless coins around which have no real value.
But they cost, cost time, development effort and real energy.
Most of them will go broke.
Most of them are basically cash grabs. Which is not entirely different from the early days of the Internet where there were lots of idiots ready to throw money at anyone who said "I have a web site!"
LOTS of money, sometimes.
Most of them are gone, too...
pyramid schemes?
Running as long as new users invest?
When no new users are attracted, its finished?
apreciado amigo, nada es gratis en la vida, siempre ahy alguien que debe pagar ese costo