Treading a Fine Line: The Kusamarian Conundrum in Polkadot's Ecosystem
In recent times, the Polkadot ecosystem has seen a significant initiative aimed at boosting its community engagement and knowledge sharing through content creation. The figure at the center of this initiative is a content creator known as Kusamarian, who has been receiving substantial funding from the Polkadot on-chain treasury for his work. The total budget for Kusamarian's 6-month project stands at around $286,026, aimed at crafting over 194 pieces of content encompassing project maintenance and development. Kusamarian's endeavor, being a DOT-focused media brand, provides a platform for builders, reporters, and the community within the Polkadot network. It acts as a medium where stories of builders and token holders are shared, aiming to create a tight-knit community around Polkadot's vision. The idea is to seed the Kusamarian treasury for at least 42 weeks of holder-funded media, focused on attracting new interest, spotlighting the people behind Polkadot's development, and providing a forum for discourse and discovery. However, despite the noble intent, there exists a glaring issue – the model's sustainability and its effectiveness in reaching beyond the existing Polkadot community. A notable concern is the relatively low viewership that Kusamarian's content has been attracting, which raises questions about the ROI (Return On Investment) for the significant funding received. Additionally, the funding model, which heavily relies on grants from the on-chain treasury, is seen by some as an unsustainable practice. It's feared that this could set a precedent where numerous content creators flock to the on-chain treasury for funding, straining the ecosystem's resources. Moreover, Kusamarian's content is perceived to lack neutrality, catering more towards projects and individuals he holds in high regard. This lack of impartiality contrasts with other content creators like KryptoChain and Cryptozilla, who are appreciated for their neutral stance and broader community engagement. In light of these concerns, it's imperative that Kusamarian and similar initiatives explore alternative funding models. A shift towards a more self-sustaining model, like seeking sponsorships, enabling tipping, or soliciting charitable donations, could alleviate the dependency on Polkadot’s on-chain treasury. This way, not only is the financial burden on the ecosystem reduced, but it also encourages a more diversified and independent content creation space within Polkadot's community, paving the way for a more inclusive and far-reaching engagement.
Comments (1)
Hi SHARETHOUGHTS, I saw your post while I preparing materials for my next tutorial and I thought it would be a good chance to leave some feedback as to what I believe. First of all, thanks for your comment regarding valuing my neutrality despite holding a stake in the ecosystem and being paid by the treasury. I'm not going to get into the debate regarding the cost per video for The Kusamarian and the number of views etc.. But I just want to give you my personal feedback regarding self sustainability. The Kusamarian is a Polkadot/Kusama only brand and this makes it extremely limited when it comes to sponsors, this means only ecosystem teams or hardware wallets and maybe some exchanges can sponsor. Now all of the above would apply in a bull market, because in a bear market, there is almost nobody who will pay. I have personally reached out to ecosystem teams and they have told me that they don't have a marketing budget to spend on Content Creators. What this would mean is the end of The Kusamarian, because it would just not be sustainable without an income, after all, it's a full time job. The alternative could be for them to reduce cost significantly and for Jay to be the only guy behind the brand, but that would also mean reducing the content type and a major downgrade to the brand as he wouldn't be able to do everything himself in the same way it's currently done. Proper editing takes a lot of time, trust me! So this is why I think it's extremely difficult for The Kusamarian to self sustain. Perhaps the staking rewards that he's currently getting from staking some of that DOT (I believe it's 15,000), will one day be valuable to be able to pay them salaries and not have to reach out to the treasury. While I'm not personally a fan of the high costs, I also understand that he's trying to grow a team and expand his brand to bring real value and I do hope he could be more neutral as a brand and maybe he will eventually do that. Also, his interview style has improved compared to the initial ones and he does ask more specific questions rather than basic ones, giving the team full control of the interview. So you can see that he has put in a lot of effort into that and took the feedback from some of his fellow creators & powerful individuals above him. So I think, from my personal point of view, that The Kusamarian will continue to reach out to the Treasury and get paid until those staking rewards and some Parachain teams will be able to pay them enough to self sustain. Also remember that it can come at a cost of becoming even less neutral as they have to sustain from those team's marketing budget! I hope it makes sense and that you can see the benefit of this in how all of us Creators + Ambassadors can continue helping and pushing the growth of this ecosystem even if the Treasury will have to fully or partially sustain us. Regards, Claudio (KryptosChain)