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Surprisingly, the title isn't about Steem at all, it is about me spending the entire day finalizing a customer training video. Finally (at least for today), I am now post-post-production. It has been a long day in front of the screen.

![IMG_20200219_170529.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/tarazkp/ZZ5jmmlP-IMG_20200219_170529.jpg)

I like the screen cast recordings, but I am not much of a fan of my voice, and having to listen to myself say the same things over and over makes me a little more understanding of my wife. However, when you are right, *you are right.* 

One of the things that Steem is going to struggle with in regards to user adoption is that there is no clear path to usage. While the entire platform is gamified in many ways, unlike a game, the decisions on directions are near unlimited, whether it be taking the economic or social perspective, or a blend of both. 

Even the gateways into Steem are highly diverse these days and while once upon a time Steemit Inc handled all signups, there are literally thousands of ways to get an account due to the introduction of buying account tokens through resource credits. 

I noticed on @nonameslefttouse's post a [comment from a new Tron signup](https://steemit.com/steemit/@nonameslefttouse/when-two-communities-collide#@carapthian/q5y27i), which is great to see. I wonder which gateway they used and, I wonder if it will affect their first steps through the Steem ecosystem.

We are likely all affected by our first experiences here and most likely heavily influenced by the types of users we interact with. This could become more pronounced and observable once there are more people entering in on applications, instead of blogging sites. For example, a user coming in through the @appics gateway might not realize that their post is appearing on the Steemit interface at all. While they can use that platform the way it was designed, from a traditional Steem perspective, they might look like a bit of a shitposter. 

It is also because of this that it is so important to separate communities and content types economically with SMTs, as rather than having one token that covers all content, content can attract a specific token without interacting with another. Using the Appics example, a user who is interested in earning APX tokens might not know or care that they are getting downvoted on Steem, they could just see it as a dislike. 

While people focus on Steem whales, what many aren't recognizing is that with all of the Token pools out there and the ability to buy and earn, there are going to be *thousands of whales* on Steem, who are not necessarily "Steem" whales. Even now, there are accounts that are distributing a great deal more value through Steem-Engine tokens than their own accounts, and some of their Steem accounts aren't small. 

However, what this means is that while the Steem ecosystem can be complex and have a steep on-ramp, the gateway applications can be far simpler and be much more intuitive for an end user. This means that it will be an easy on and then a slower introduction into the larger ecosystem, instead of a *in the deep end* approach to onboarding.

What I am looking forward to in the future is having a greater range of creatives and consumers arrive who look to use Steem in a more tailored fashion for their needs. I think that through this approach, they will have a much cleaner and face far less friction in their Steem experience. Post-production Steem can be a lot more enjoyable for the average user than the immersive experience of everything all at once.

Anyway, I should take the headset off and see what has been happening in the world outside the booth I have been recording in today. Any news?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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<center>[![Onboarding](https://i.imgur.com/e6A1MiM.png)](https://steemonboarding.com/)</center>