One Month of Content Creation on 3speak.tv — Challenges and Limitations Experienced
I’ve been a content creator for a little over a year. My writing journey began on read.cash — a platform that pays you in cryptocurrency BCH (Bitcoin cash) for writing quality and original content.
I earned $270 in my first month and even more in my next from writing content of interest without any prior writing experience.
This earning increased my writing confidence and motivated me to search for other writing platforms so I could improve my stream of income. It was a tough search but it was worth it in the long run.
In May, which is about two months and a few days from the time of writing, I was able to come across another platform that provided the opportunity to make even more money within a short period. This platform is 3speak.tv.
I came across 3speak.tv while trying to increase my stream of income and was surprised by what I saw. I saw earnings of $20, $50, and some $200 on each content created per day and this got my attention.
I had to do a quick calculation with the minimum value I came across. I told myself ‘If I earned $20 on each content and created content every day, in a month that would be $20 x 30 days = $600.’
Wow! $600 just like that would be amazing.
This is easy in theory but we’re allowed to dream. Aren’t we?
I spent a whole month trying to understand the platform while taking note of what made those content creators make a lot of money. I realized it was one simple requirement — consistency and originality.
I did not create my first content until mid-July. I created my first content on the platform and hit the publish button at exactly 9 am. I was nervous since it was my first time and decided to see how events would play out.
I woke up at 7 am the next day, and guess what? I had made $27 overnight from just 18 views. I was so excited that I literally jumped out of bed and ran over to my cousin’s room to show him what I had earned. It was beyond what I had been expecting.
This motivated me to continue on the platform and from mid-July till ending of August, I was able to make a little over $200.
I know this is disappointing compared to the original $600 plan. Well, this is because I didn’t create content every day but just twice and sometimes three times a week.
Earning $200+ without being available every day proves that 3speak.tv is a platform worth exploring.
I also didn’t create any content in September due to life and being busy.
Below is a screenshot of some of my content on 3speak.tv and how much was made from each.
I made $27.42 from the first video, then $7.37, then $6.79, and so on as seen above.
There have been days of low earnings too as seen in the below screenshot. Where I barely made up to $10 per content for up to three days straight. This was a letdown because I had expected more earnings.
I didn’t let this discourage me but put in more effort which is reflected in the next set of published content as seen below.
You can check out my [3speak profile](You can check out my 3speak profile to confirm my earnings!
Regardless of the amount earned from 3speak, I experienced some challenges and limitations which I would like to talk about.) to confirm my earnings!
Regardless of the amount earned from 3speak, I experienced some challenges and limitations which I would like to talk about.
Wondering what 3speak.tv is?
Permit me to satisfy your curiosity. 3speak.tv is a YouTube alternative platform that pays you in cryptocurrency Hive and HBD (Hive-backed dollar) for creating quality and original video content.
Yes, you read that right. You get paid in cryptocurrency which you can easily sell into cash via your preferable crypto exchange platform.
An advantage provided by 3speak.tv is that you do not need to be a professional video creator, nor do you need to have any video editing skills.
All you need is your smartphone camera and any form of content you’re good at creating and you’re good to go. You can post any form of content provided it is yours and does not contain nudity or NSFW (not safe for work) content.
I will be writing a full disclosure of everything you need to know about 3speak.tv in a few days.
Some Challenges Experienced on 3speak.tv
Regardless of how much I’ve earned on 3speak.tv within a short period, I have encountered some challenges and limitations which I’d like to talk about in a few words.
Knowing these challenges beforehand will make a difference in your content creation experience on the platform.
Complicated Account Creation Process
Apart from publishing my videos on 3speak.tv for whoever may be interested in my content to simply go for them, I have the habit of sharing my videos with some friends and family for feedback purposes.
The most common complaint I’ve received is the inability to comment and hit the like button.
Of course, this shouldn’t be a problem since on conventional social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you cannot do the same without having an account. Hence, 3speak is not an exception.
Unfortunately, the 3speak account creation process is too complicated to understand at first glance so they give up after several trials, which means they do not get to share their opinion via the comment section.
On 3speak.tv, you cannot create an account by simply entering your email address, selecting a username, and creating a password.
Since you get paid in cryptocurrency (Hive and HBD), you have to create a Hive account first via one of the Hive front-ends where you’re given a key phrase which is then connected to 3speak.
I have lost some viewers due to this difficulty. They keep saying ‘what’s the point of watching if we can’t comment on your content?'
I find this limitation a major challenge since the earnings on 3speak are not only dependent on the views but also the comments.
Seven Days Earning Limit
I mentioned earlier that 3speak.tv is a YouTube alternative platform which means that a lot of differences should be expected in both platforms’ modes of operation. One such difference is the seven days earning limit.
Unlike on YouTube where your video continues to earn you money even years later as long as it is still being watched or if it suddenly trends again, 3speak does not provide that opportunity.
3speak.tv only provides your video with a seven-day earning window, after which it will no longer be eligible to earn any more money regardless of whether it trends afterward or not.
This is a limitation because several people may find your video interesting weeks, months, or years after the video was uploaded which is going to be reflected in the views, unfortunately, these views wouldn’t matter anymore.
24 hours upvote limit
The earnings on 3speak.tv are completely dependent on the number of views and comments which is quite fair since it would make no sense for you to earn a lot of money with zero views on your content.
As mentioned above, my first video had only 18 views and about 10 comments in the first 24 hours, and I received an upvote of $27 on my video, which was quite surprising since I had expected the earnings to be dependent on a larger number of views.
This seems good but you’re probably wondering where the disadvantage comes in.
The earnings on your video are calculated by the 3speak bot based on the number of views and comments in the initial 24 hours, and these upvotes will only be received once.
This is a major challenge because the upvote will only be received once as soon as the video hits the 21-hour mark, after which no more upvotes will be received by the bot.
I consider this a problem because I’ve had several occasions where my videos didn’t have a considerable amount of views in the initial 24 hours but had more after two to three days.
For instance, one of my videos had only 10 views on the first day and a few comments but went on to have almost 40 views on the third day.
Unfortunately, it didn’t matter anymore because the initial 24-hour window for upvotes from the 3speak bot had elapsed.
This means that I have to find more ways of getting my video out there to get in order to get more views within the first 24 hours for upvote eligibility. I sometimes wonder why the platform is designed this way.
More upvotes will only be received if some curators such as @eddiespino or @theycallmedan or others on the platform come across your content and consider it to be of quality, after which they would simply curate it manually or nominate it to be curated by @ocd (on-chain curation desk) or @appreciator. This doesn’t happen all the time.
Expecting more upvotes means that your content has to be very good for the curators to consider it upvote-worthy.
Conclusion
It is practically impossible for a digital platform to not have some limitations that the users will find inconvenient. These challenges are not meant to discourage you from being a content creator on the platform but to prepare you to properly utilize the platform to your advantage.
Regardless of some of the limitations and challenges experienced with my content creation experience on 3speak.tv, I can confidently say that it has a lot more advantages which makes the platform worth exploring.
In a few days from now, I’d be writing a full guide on how to create a 3speak account and earn from creating content from your first day. I will also be doing a review of 3speak.tv as compared to YouTube while highlighting the Pros and Cons.
First published on Medium to promote 3speak.tv