@ned With The Ultimate FUD And Why We Need To Change!!!
It seems yesterday was a very bad day at Steemit headquarters. The pink slips were handed out to 70% of the staff. Some very good people, many who are active on here, were let go.
This from @ned in a post he presented to the community.
https://busy.org/@ned/2fajh9-steemit-update
Steemit operates on an automated schedule of converting STEEM to fiat. Like everyone who depends upon the crypto to survive, times are tough. I read a couple articles of people having to go back to their businesses that were overlooked because of time dedication to crypto.
It simply is the nature of this bear market. Many companies along with individuals are suffering. This is what we are dealing with.
While I feel bad for those who lost their jobs, this is a larger wake up call to all of us. There are many on here who preach at the alter of decentralization. Steemit has a lot of responsibilities with it's fingers in a lot of different aspects of what is taking place. Now, with cost cutting at the top of the priority list, things will need to be streamlined.
Since I am not a techie dude, I cannot provide a breakdown of how this ought to occur. That said, it is an opportunity for the community to step up and take over what needs to be done. At the same time, it is up to Steemit to relinquish some of that control.
Many will take this as a kick to the gut but I do not look at it that way. It is part of growing pains. We are in a very young, immature industry. Things like this happen. Whatever the reason for it, and I will not speculate or point fingers, it is time to mount up and overcome.
Decentralization is a barrier to outside interference since there is no single point of entry. It is why hacking is much more difficult on a decentralized system. This also applies to control. When power is decentralized, there is no single point of failure. Put too much power in the hands of an individual or entity and systemic risk is a factor.
Effectively, the way the responsibilities are delegated opens us up to 3rd party counter risk.
It is seriously time for the Witnesses to step up and work with the remaining staff at Steemit. There is really no other choice. Witnesses are our voice and they need to represent the platform. Steemit is not Steem; it is time to prove that.
Fortunately, the running of the blockchain is already in the hands of the Witness and the DApps are separate entities, not directly affected by this. Their development can continue as planned. What is affected is the further development that was discussed. Ned admitted this in the comment section of his post. Cost cutting is the main priority right now, everything else, in terms of timeline, is in question.
It is time for the adults in the room to take charge. In my mind, this is directed at the top 100 WItnesses. Most of them are very knowledgeable about the different aspects of the back end of the blockchain. The loss of manpower, according to the post, was large. This need to be made up somehow. The Witnesses either have the know-how or know where to find it.
I understand the decisions Steemit had to make. Anyone in business grasps what is taking place. This, once again, proves that all of this is not free. There is a cost to develop and run an operation like the Steem blockchain.
It is time for all of us to step up our game. All 261,000 people with at least 1 SP are stakeholders in this blockchain. This applies equally to the person with 1 SP as it does to Ned.
We often like to talk about community and how great it is on here. It is time to prove that by coming together. Each of us has a role to play in this. This with the ability can step right in and do what needs to be done. The rest of us can support them in whatever fashion we can.
Source
I am reminded of a talk I saw Andreas Antonopoulos give about Bitcoin. In it, Andreas mentioned how Bitcoin was so much better than a centralized system behind fire walls because it was out there, open, to be hit by everything thrown at it. The "secured" system is actually more vulnerable because it is not exposed to every hack, virus, and all the other digital garbage floating around.
It is the same with us. It is easy to be a community when things are going along smooth as silk. However, the strength of a community only comes from being tested. Can we call ourselves a strong community if we are hidden behind a nice secure wall that keeps all the bad stuff away from us?
Obviously not.
Time to band together and set a new course for the next leg of the Steem journey.
With each setback is an opportunity It is up to us now to take advantage of this situation and reduce the 3rd party counter risk that exists.
Remember, this is our blockchain.
If you found this article informative, please give an upvote and resteem.
I think this absolutely creates an opportunity for witnesses to also try to get some of those employees that were let go to help with this decentralization process to continue development individually and to the benefit of the protocol. If we take over it, we will implement more rewarding experiences that the community wants rather than the vision of one company of group of individuals.
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What I got from the video is it now becomes important to now make your own nodes and get paid for it. As long as SteemIt does not closedown with no migration path and essentially throw the users to limbo. This bubble burst created by the bear market will just a very hard speed bump for the Steem Blockchain.
70% of Steemit Inc was laid off, but Steemit Inc is only pushing a small fraction of the development and innovation around here. The majority of who's really pushing Steem forward is still here, more determined and loyal than ever.
That is true and the second layer was external development. Steemit Inc did handle the development of the blockchain plus running the nodes and API.
This is where the question lies.
There is no doubt about the ability for the Dapps developers to keep going.
Yes, but we need steem inc. for SMTs
STEEM is a descentralized token, but we need the Steemit to get them the value that it have. I will explain that... Many people until think that steemit.com is the only platform to steem blockchain, even though many people doesn't understand that steem don't have nothing to do with steemit.com.
That is why the two things are connect. For me, it's time for us increase the quantity of platforms that are based on steem bc, however until people know and understand that, we need the steemit.com, we like it, or not.
Will this mass layoff affect the SMT development and delay it?
In the comment section of the post, ned said the timeline is affected but he is not sure of how it is impacted at this point. I would presume a delay.
Bummer on the further SMT delay.
I hope all Steem blockchain development gets decentralized and not reliant on a corrporation.
Thanks for the clarification @taskmaster4450
It's certainly strange how the future of the platform seems to be at stake, when the developments happening on top of STEEM have never been this many. It hardly makes sense.
It seems like the Crypto Markets simply put everything in the same bag, from the tiny little ICO scammer set up in the basement of your neighbour... to projects already working and with a lot of fans.
And I doubt this is just a coincidence. I think we're being victims of manipulation from a group of criminals who are probably laughing at our expenses while they make themselves even richer, by inflating and then tanking the markets.
I don't believe the future of the platform is at stake. I think some of the developers have been laid off to make steemit more lean during the dip.
If this bloodbath knocks out some vaporware all the better.
100% true
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I can always trust you to add some positivity to the discussion without being unreasonable. Thank you for that.
The key to making a good essay is to argue not only with your ideas but with those collected through third parties
If money is an issue, the option of crowdfunding what needs to be done to finish what is in the roadmap to HF21 is always there. Rather than see the blockchain development grind to a halt because of this, I wouldn't personally mind taking part in such an initiative either by upvotes or even direct payments.
Did you check Steemit's wallet lately, or Ned's?
@steemit seems to be worth $18 million right now.
@ned is worth $760,000 right now.
Steemit Inc also controls many other accounts such as @steemit2, worth $400,000 at the moment.
I don't know how many employees Steemit Inc has but if we assume 20 and each costing a total of $100,000 per year to keep on its payroll, then employing the costs $2 million per year. With its current stake, Steemit Inc would be able to keep going for another 10 years. Steemit is in no acute danger of running out of money whatsoever.
Now, there is nothing wrong with restructuring for greater efficiency. But I'm certainly hoping that HF21 won't be delayed too much because of its. Is Steemit Inc doing this because its banking on the general crypto market picking up next year or the year after that? And the price of STEEM being much less dependent on the development of Steem than the overall crypto market? If that is the case, I think it is economically rational of them to conserve their STEEM right now.
But I wonder what the right balance might be because the first mover advantage Steem still has as decentralized social media platform is considerable.