Targeted advertisement - Who would BitCoins appeal the most to?

[hazek]

Targeted advertisement - Who would BitCoins appeal the most to?

tl;dr: Getting more miners could be the most important thing that could happen to BitCoins. More people mine, more people have BitCoins, more people have BitCoins more people will trade BitCoins and finally more people trade BitCoins more people and businesses will trust and accept BitCoins. Gamers could be those miners.


I didn't decide to write this thread with the intention of posing the tittle question to the community but perhaps to offer my own answer. Ever since a week ago when I first learned about BitCoins my GPU is super hot hashing at max speed and my wheels in my brain are spinning supper fast and all I think about is how, who, why, when BitCoin this and BitCoin that.  

Anyway so far I've come to understand and figure out quite a few things but there's one in particular that I wanted to share. Basically I was thinking about the already existing coins and what the current situation is where the difficulty to successfully find the right hash of a block is so high that my laptop GPU if I ran a BitCoin client on it would need just under 2years on average to find one. Basically I figured out that at this point unless you are part of a mining pool and own a really good graphics card it's just not worth to even try mining on your own. So that got me thinking further and I said to myself: "if only those with really good graphics cards could see their balance grow reasonable fast then who would be ideal to present BitCoins to and try to get them onboard first?"

And the answer is simple: "Gamers!"

Think about it, gamers have usually decent hardware, they run their PC almost all the time anyway even if they don't always play games, they nowadays usually have a decent internet connection and they are geeky enough to quickly understand the principles behind BitCoins.

So the next question I asked myself is pretty obvious: "if the answer is gamers, then how can I best reach the most of them?"

And the answer is again fairly simple: "Social media!"

I think it could be of great benefit to try our hardest and find various gamer gurus either on youtube or facebook and try and get them onboard to accept BitCoin donations for their otherwise free content. They could even post a promotional animated video if we had a really good one and expose all their fans to BitCoins! For example there this guy on youtube, huskystarcraft who has over 400k subscribers! OVER 400k! Imagine if he posts a promotional video on his channel and gets even a fifth of them interested enough to start mining/using BitCoins!


Bottom line: I think it would harm the BitCoins project immensely if the community didn't grow fast enough and the next 5mio BTC also stayed in such a small circle which otherwise I think is perfectly fine but at the same time hurting the projects appeal. And what I mean by that is that when people learn that such a small number already has so many BTC and then they see how hard besides buying or charging it is to get them, they can get quickly suspicious and discouraged..
We have to find the right group of people who if they decided to participate have a fighting chance of mining some on their own before we rely on mostly buyers of BitCoins and especially before we rely on businesses offering their services for BitCoins.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

You're missing the entire point of bitcoins.

[hazek]

You're missing the entire point of bitcoins.

Oh? Educate me then

[N12]

You're missing the entire point of bitcoins.

Oh? Educate me then

Bitcoin’s not about mining.

[hazek]

You're missing the entire point of bitcoins.

Oh? Educate me then

Bitcoin’s not about mining.

Please read my post again. Pay special attention to the bold part.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

You're missing the entire point of bitcoins.

Oh? Educate me then

Bitcoin’s not about mining.

Please read my post again. Pay special attention to the bold part.

Read our replies again. It doesn't matter who mines the coins, as that is not the main point of bitcoins. The main point is to have a better replacement currency, and you don't get currency for nothing in most cases. If I want USD I have to work for it or buy some with another currency. Same with bitcoins.

[hazek]

Read our replies again. It doesn't matter who mines the coins, as that is not the main point of bitcoins. The main point is to have a better replacement currency, and you don't get currency for nothing in most cases. If I want USD I have to work for it or buy some with another currency. Same with bitcoins.

I don't understand? Are you objecting to a large number of new miners?

p.s.: I understand perfectly well what the main purpose of BitCoins is. But I also understand how markets usually get there.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

You shouldn't market Bitcoin mining. Market bitcoins and their superiority to other currencies.

Focusing on mining will just flood the market with miners who just want to sell coins to get USD with no intention of using bitcoins.

[hazek]

You shouldn't market Bitcoin mining. Market bitcoins and their superiority to other currencies.

Focusing on mining will just flood the market with miners who just want to sell coins to get USD with no intention of using bitcoins.

LOL! Kinda like Gold miners flooded the market during the gold rush? You can't be serious?!


Getting more miners could be the most important thing that could happen to BitCoins. More people mine, more people have BitCoins, more people have BitCoins more people will trade BitCoins and finally more people trade BitCoins more people and businesses will trust and accept BitCoins.

Don't tell me you really think the market made a conscious plan to implement gold as money because of it's properties?

[casascius]

Getting more miners could be the most important thing that could happen to BitCoins. More people mine, more people have BitCoins, more people have BitCoins more people will trade BitCoins and finally more people trade BitCoins more people and businesses will trust and accept BitCoins.

I agree, the more miners, the better, for the same reason.

[So_Cynical]

I can feel a bitcoin community split coming on...as the bitcoin phenomenon grows there is going to be alot of new people (like hazek and i) coming along with different ideas and views on how to get our hands on a few BTC....bitcoin has appeal to different people for different reasons, i also think bitcoin would appeal to some gamers but not in a mining (grinding way) thou some may like that aspect of it. i reckon bitcoin and the community has a kinda role play aspect that would appeal to some role play gamers...especially once nefario gets the stock (black market up and running.

   

[Garrett Burgwardt]

You shouldn't market Bitcoin mining. Market bitcoins and their superiority to other currencies.

Focusing on mining will just flood the market with miners who just want to sell coins to get USD with no intention of using bitcoins.

LOL! Kinda like Gold miners flooded the market during the gold rush? You can't be serious?!


Getting more miners could be the most important thing that could happen to BitCoins. More people mine, more people have BitCoins, more people have BitCoins more people will trade BitCoins and finally more people trade BitCoins more people and businesses will trust and accept BitCoins.

Don't tell me you really think the market made a conscious plan to implement gold as money because of it's properties?

You're continuing to miss the point.

You should not market bitcoin as "Hey look, generate cash!"

It should be marketed as "Look at the improvements we've made over other currencies".

By marketing bitcoin as about mining, you're giving people the wrong idea. We can't afford for that to happen. Then nobody would take it seriously, and whenever it would be mentioned it'd be thought about as mining oriented.

Which, it's not.

[hazek]

You're continuing to miss the point.

You should not market bitcoin as "Hey look, generate cash!"

It should be marketed as "Look at the improvements we've made over other currencies".

By marketing bitcoin as about mining, you're giving people the wrong idea. We can't afford for that to happen. Then nobody would take it seriously, and whenever it would be mentioned it'd be thought about as mining oriented.

Which, it's not.

Does it matter if it's mining oriented if people start using it because of that?

[Anonymous]

You're continuing to miss the point.

You should not market bitcoin as "Hey look, generate cash!"

It should be marketed as "Look at the improvements we've made over other currencies".

By marketing bitcoin as about mining, you're giving people the wrong idea. We can't afford for that to happen. Then nobody would take it seriously, and whenever it would be mentioned it'd be thought about as mining oriented.

Which, it's not.

Does it matter if it's mining oriented if people start using it because of that?

Pretty soon a single gpu will be useless to mine with unless in a pool.

Lie to people by telling them they are guaranteed coins and they will hate you for it. The truth might hurt initially but it saves worse disapointment later on.

Dont claim mining is bitcoins only use case because that is the least attractive thing about it.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

You're continuing to miss the point.

You should not market bitcoin as "Hey look, generate cash!"

It should be marketed as "Look at the improvements we've made over other currencies".

By marketing bitcoin as about mining, you're giving people the wrong idea. We can't afford for that to happen. Then nobody would take it seriously, and whenever it would be mentioned it'd be thought about as mining oriented.

Which, it's not.

Does it matter if it's mining oriented if people start using it because of that?

Yes because people will generate coins and simply sell them for cash, rather than actually use them.

Don't get me wrong, advertising to gamers is a good idea. Usually they're technically inclined and interested in things like this. Just focus on how it is better as a currency rather than mining.

[Neereus]

Personally I would say both sides should be advertised equally.

Without people using bitcoins, mining becomes pointless.
Without mining, spending bitcoins becomes impossible.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

Personally I would say both sides should be advertised equally.

Without people using bitcoins, mining becomes pointless.
Without mining, spending bitcoins becomes impossible.

It should be included in the explanation of bitcoin, but it shouldn't be the main point, more on the level of the block chain in importance, and the important thing about mining is that it keeps the network safe, and for that work you get a reward.

[hazek]

It should be included in the explanation of bitcoin, but it shouldn't be the main point, more on the level of the block chain in importance, and the important thing about mining is that it keeps the network safe, and for that work you get a reward.

Any serious person who will look at BitCoins one the first things they'll notice once they learn about how it all actually works is what I now understand. And that is that right now there's around 3k nodes and 5,5mio coins out there. And these 5.5mio coins are being held a by a small minority, probably far less then 3k. And there's no way the trading price of $0.9/BTC is realistic with such a low volume and so many people sitting on their stash.

And before you read my reply any further let me make it perfectly clear that I don't care how many who has. I understand what this invention is about. I'm an an-cap supporter and an austrian economist first and nothing would make me happier if the whole world would use a currency that couldn't get hijacked by governments and inflated at will. But that's not your typical user and never will be.

If you want this invention to really take off you can not have a small minority who will sit on all the coins and suppress the supply in order to bid up the price because people just wont buy. What you need is more people who own some, not because they bought them, not because they charged them but because they also mined them. It's irrelevant why these people hold some as long as they do and if they trust BitCoins they'll start trading them with others and the volume in trades will build up and BitCoins will gain mainstream credibility.


I mean do you really think gold became world wide currency because select few people had most of it when it was first discovered? Of course not! People all around the world found some, some found more, some found less, everyone though shared the same opinion about it and eventually they started to trade it as money.

I have a feeling that there's a lot of brilliant minds on this forum when it comes to software and computing who utterly fail when it comes to history and economics and especially human nature. You got to understand these things if you want to see this invention really take off.

p.s.: I call it an invention because I can't really call it a commodity because you can't make anything out of a BitCoin but it's also not a currency, not just yet.

[Dobry Den]

Bitcoin growth depends on a marketplace where you can buy and sell goods and services.

Currently, there's almost zero commercial trade. Most volume right now is already traded on the shuffling of speculative papers or the dumping of more coin onto the marketplace from miners.

Mining won't get people fundamentally interested in Bitcoins. It might lure them into the community, but as soon as they realize how non-lucrative it is, they'll need a more fundamental interest in Bitcoins to stick around.

So, advertising on the appeal of generating coin might be a bad angle.

[Garrett Burgwardt]

It should be included in the explanation of bitcoin, but it shouldn't be the main point, more on the level of the block chain in importance, and the important thing about mining is that it keeps the network safe, and for that work you get a reward.

Any serious person who will look at BitCoins one the first things they'll notice once they learn about how it all actually works is what I now understand. And that is that right now there's around 3k nodes and 5,5mio coins out there. And these 5.5mio coins are being held a by a small minority, probably far less then 3k. And there's no way the trading price of $0.9/BTC is realistic with such a low volume and so many people sitting on their stash.

And before you read my reply any further let me make it perfectly clear that I don't care how many who has. I understand what this invention is about. I'm an an-cap supporter and an austrian economist first and nothing would make me happier if the whole world would use a currency that couldn't get hijacked by governments and inflated at will. But that's not your typical user and never will be.

If you want this invention to really take off you can not have a small minority who will sit on all the coins and suppress the supply in order to bid up the price because people just wont buy. What you need is more people who own some, not because they bought them, not because they charged them but because they also mined them. It's irrelevant why these people hold some as long as they do and if they trust BitCoins they'll start trading them with others and the volume in trades will build up and BitCoins will gain mainstream credibility.


I mean do you really think gold became world wide currency because select few people had most of it when it was first discovered? Of course not! People all around the world found some, some found more, some found less, everyone though shared the same opinion about it and eventually they started to trade it as money.

I have a feeling that there's a lot of brilliant minds on this forum when it comes to software and computing who utterly fail when it comes to history and economics and especially human nature. You got to understand these things if you want to see this invention really take off.

p.s.: I call it an invention because I can't really call it a commodity because you can't make anything out of a BitCoin but it's also not a currency, not just yet.

I have no opinion on who holds coins and whether it's good that a minority hold a large amount of coins.

Read carefully.

Do not introduce bitcoins and push mining them because it is not about mining, that is merely a small part of a superior currency.

Introduce the currency and why it is better, mining will follow.