## Zappl
Zappl: The short-form messaging platform for the Steem blockchain went live on October 23rd to great excitement and fanfare. One month on, how well has it integrated into the Steem ecosystem? Is it still creating sparks? Or is the battery in need of a recharge?  

In this analysis I look at use numbers, user adoption, and the revenue stream generated by the platform over the first month of use. I also look at the emergence of "fake Zapping" and consider the next steps for the project to push itself towards mass adoption. 

*The views in this article are my own. I have no affiliation with the Zappl team. The numbers in this article have been produced by an analysis of the Steem blockchain (as described below) but have received no independent verification and as such should be treated with care.* 

## Zap Numbers and User Adoption
2,462 messages were Zapped in the first month of the Zappl platform (23/10 to 22/11 UTC) an average of nearly 80 a day. Another 412 comments were launched from the platform as replies to these Zaps. 

The chart below shows the Zap count (excluding comment responses) in blue and the numbers of new users in orange. 

![Screen Shot 2017-11-23 at 18.46.14.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1511462798/on37romulybnajt0vvtc.png)

There was a clear rush to adoption in the first few days of the platform. The Zap count is holding up around the 60 zaps per day mark, showing some clear commitment from existing users. However the number of new users has dropped significantly, averaging in single figures across November. 

## Zappl Revenues

Zappl receives benefaciary revenues of 15% of the author rewards from each Zap message and each comment made on the platform. 
*This benefaciary revenue is the only income stream considered in this analysis; any author rewards emerging from articles or Zaps written by the Zappl account or curation rewards from upvotes by the Zappl account are excluded.*  

The following chart shows the author, curation, and Zappl benefaciary rewards for all posts (Zaps and comments) arising from the platform. *(Rewards accrued for the last seven days have been estimated using the pending payout amounts reduced by a curation factor of 21% - this is the average curation level over the completed period for zaps. Zaps made in this latter period are still "live" and rewards may continue to be gathered until the seven day reward period for each zap is complete).*

 ![Screen Shot 2017-11-23 at 18.59.26.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1511463586/pzoe2f1xgpba6xbps02g.png)

The Zappl benefaciary revenues are separated out in the chart below:

 ![Screen Shot 2017-11-23 at 19.02.14.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1511463763/mc6o1n6dpohwaht6zbmd.png)

The revenue numbers are low but fairly steady. They are however highly dependent on the top ten users *(the top eleven accounts out of 522 in total; two of the eleven accounts belong to the same user following a switch to a designated Zappl account).* The proportion of revenues from these users is illustrated in the chart below:

![Screen Shot 2017-11-23 at 19.13.48.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1511464445/phnfmdbexxcrprzx4vdk.png)

There is an increasing trend in the proportion of revenues arising from these top users.

## Fake Zapping!

Are people "fake Zapping"? I noticed some oddities when collecting the data for this analysis. There are a large number of short-form messages on the blockchain with first tag "zappl" which:
* are not registered as created on the Zappl platform *(some come from steemit, some from esteem)*
* have never been edited *(which can cause the registered platform to be switched)* 
* do not have zappl listed as a beneficiary *(I checked a few of these maunally on steemd.com and there is no register of a benefaciary reward for the Zappl account when the seven day period completes).*

Which gives two possibilities as far as I can see. Either the Zappl platform is dropping the benefaciary amount and the application registered is somehow switching. Or people are fake Zapping, i.e. launching their short-form message from other applications with a zappl tag to save on the 15% author fee levied by Zappl. One to be further investigated!

## Conclusions

Overall the numbers look pretty low but it's still very early days for Zappl. A read-through of the Zappl account shows a huge amount of work being undertaken. IoS and Android apps are on the way. In my view these mobile apps will be the key to achieving mass adoption. The niche of short-form messaging is quick real-time updates for people on the go: breaking news, reaction, opinion, jokes. It's read on smartphones and largely written on smartphones. If the mobile apps are user friendly and a quick source of updates, I can see people jumping on board.

That said, Zappl still needs to find its niche. It's not built for long-form articles so it's not in competition with Steemit. But it does potentially have competition from the other mobile Steem platform: Esteem. We've already *(possibly)* seen the lengths people will go to avoid the 15% fee. Will users be content to pay 15% when esteem only charges 5%?

In my view the revenue model also needs to fit the content. It should be more of a "tipping" economy. Micro upvotes from lots of users on lots of Zaps rather than the large upvotes seen on Steemit for longer content. A system of buttons or stars giving upvotes of 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, or 5c is one possibility. This would help further differentiate Zappl from Steemit. Users are also more likely to be more comfortable upvoting short-form content in this fashion: it's more of a "thank you" than a "I really like your work".

Finally short-form messaging is all about following people. What's the president saying today? What's my favourite trader's crypto tip? Steem has its own stars with their own news to break. If Zappl wants to succeed, getting them on board would be a good place to start.

## Methodology and Tools for Analysis

Raw data was obtained through sql queries of the Comments table in steemsql (thank you as always @arcange!) using Valentina Studio. Data was analysed in Numbers, the mac spreadsheet tool. Data was obtained for the time period shown in the charts above.  

I ran three separate queries to find the best way to obtain the required data:
1. A query seeking posts generated on the Zappl application platform: this searched for the string 'app":"zappl' in the json metadata. 
2476 records were obtained. However this data does not include posts written on the Zappl platform which are later edited on another platform (the json metadata changes). This data was not used.

2. A query seeking posts with benefaciary Zappl: this searched for the string 'zappl' in Comments.beneficiaries. 
2906 records. 457 of these posts recorded that they had been edited (last_update greater than creation) which allowed a broad reconciliation back to the data obtained in 1. This data was used for the study.

3. A query seeking posts with first tag Zappl. 
This was used in the study of fake Zapping.

## Questions
Are you already a Zappl user? If not, what would make you get on board? Drop me a note in the comments!

That's all for today. Thanks for reading. 


<br /><hr/><em>Posted on <a href="https://utopian.io/utopian-io/@miniature-tiger/fake-zapping-and-other-existential-threats-an-analysis-of-zappl-revenues-over-the-first-month-of-use">Utopian.io -  Rewarding Open Source Contributors</a></em><hr/>