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@steemitblog released a communication post with their intention on how they are going to push for mass adoption and onboarding through the development of communities, SMTs to empower their incentive models and *light accounts.* AS they said:

>This would effectively transform the Steem accounts we all now have to “premium” accounts.

I like this. *A lot.*

https://i.imgur.com/LfQTTFg.jpg

The reason is that while the internet is full of free services, as soon as one wants to *start* making money from it, it is going to start costing - *and people pay.* I don't know what the current pricing is but in 2016 the average cost of advertising on Facebook was 27 cents (1.1 STEEM) *per click* and over *7 dollars* (28 STEEM) for 1000 impressions. Free? Well, this is the thing when it comes to earning as in one way or another, there is nearly always going to be a price - whether it be the cost of likes on Instagram to "trick" sponsors or the work required to engage with and attract the right people on Medium, there is always something.

What people of Steem have largely taken for granted is that they have been given an opportunity to earn with zero buy-in required for most people. While many people believe that everything on the internet should be free, this is just not the way it works as those billions of dollars that the platforms make *are coming from someone.* Just because one doesn't sell their own content, doesn't mean something isn't being sold. 

But, light accounts can straddle both worlds of free and premium because a user could be onboarded through an application front-end freely and interact and participate and then could be given, earn or buy their full account to earn further upon. Potentially, earnings could be withheld until a certain level is reached and then the account matures into a premium model. 

This gives a great deal of flexibility to the applications as they can onboard many people and it increases the demand on the blockchain in multiple ways from usage to transaction count. Combine this with the potential to onboard *entire communities* and tokenize them from the get-go, and Steem looks to be able to rapidly expand its user base and use case models. 

What people should of course remember is that this is not just a social media, it is a social media that has value attached to interactions and that means that the value has to be generated through utility and storage ability. Not only can Steem be earned, it can also be saved for a later date while it continues to earn through usage. It really is a, *have your cake and eat it too* platform where people are able to consume, reward and earn relative to what they have *saved.* I say "saved" because of the sense of *storage* of Steem Power for a later date. However, if you save money in the bank, you can't simultaneously spend it to consume whereas on Steem, you can save it forever *and* spend it forever. 

The more people who get on this platform and start understanding what is actually going on here the better, because it completely changes the way the economic models of earning and consumption work, while still married to the supply and demand concepts of economics to drive innovation and reward production through preferences and behaviors.

The difference between Light accounts v Premium accounts is yet to be defined but I would assume that there would be limitations on earnings (if any at all) and of course, the names won't be able to be parked in the same way many people have parked names now, which doesn't make the churn look great. 

But, the introduction of light accounts could make things like gaming much more attractive for users and application developers alike as it makes participation a no cost affair and games themselves would be able to offer layers of service that range from free to premium levels. This creates micro economies inside the greater Steem economy and will see the spin off of a whole range of developments to take advantage of it. Some of it might look much like what is "traditional" social media now, some might be altogether new. 

In the end, what happens is that a network of economic streams that intertwine through Steem and are able to approach their particular user base from multiple directions and overlaps. There will be some services that are free that utilize advertising models, some that are paid to provide exclusivity and all the range between until the economy is complex yet working together to offer a range of experiences to participate in at various price point from zero up.

Again, while people want something for nothing, the reality is that it is not how it works. Not everyone can *afford* to go to the movies, a fancy restaurant, a concert or buy a cold beer. But, Steem can provide opportunities for people to be included if they choose and even work their way into invested ownership as well as access to opportunities that may be completely out of reach otherwise. 

I find it incredible that there are so many people able to earn *something* for a poem they wrote, a picture they took, a meme they created or their random and untrained thoughts on a hundred and one things and for most, *they never paid a dime to be here.*

While there are always going to be things to complain about, I am glad to see that the Steem blockchain is heading into a direction that looks to both empower everyone as well as offer earning and investment potential for everyone - if they so choose - those that invest in look to win out. 

Are you a Premium user already - or do you just hold the account of one?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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