After HF21, We Will Need A Reason Other Than Rewards To Stay On STEEM

Actually, We've Always Needed Another Reason...

But this time, it's probably going to be for real.

Quite a few people have been saying HF21 will do more harm than good for STEEM for a while now. With the hard fork imminent, these opinions continue to show up, which includes this post from paulag, who, among other things, is known for number crunching. In her estimation, it doesn't look good.

Take away ten percent of the reward pool off the top to create a funding source for the SPS (STEEM Proposal System, or worker proposal), then blast it with the EIP, (50/50 creator/curator split, a convergent linear curve, and a handful of free downvotes), and you've got the makings for heretofore unmitigated disaster—unless the proponents do what they need to do to make it work, and a goodly amount of the whole of STEEM follows suit.

Which is why I'm saying if STEEM rewards is your only reason for being on STEEM, or it's the main one, or even in equal portion to some others, it's gut check time. Plenty of good goes on here, but so does a lot of negative. If a rewards cut is in the works, it will be less of a reasons to carry on.

So, since this is probably a rehash of an already well rehashed theme, I'll go ahead and spell out what I think are good reasons to continue on once HF21 hits the blockchain. These aren't necessarily in any ranked order, but more how they come to mind.

Communities

I'm not talking solely about the front end upgrade Steemit is working on, or necessarily the tribes springing up through STEEM-Engine tokens, but also including the ones that already existed, through tags, through likeminded people finding each other, and the STEEM community as a whole. These types of associations are probably the number one reason anyone goes to social media and I believe that it is as just as true, if not more so, for STEEM.

It's going to take each one of us to get the rest of us through if HF21 goes south. We're not just going to want upvote, resteem or engagement support, but help with morale, too. If we're not just here for the upvote, and that actually moves farther down the list, then those friends or associates we have on STEEM are going to be more important to us then ever.

Our Future

A main idea behind STEEM is as an investment vehicle for those who are willing to put in time and or fiat into it. Those of us who are still around have been slowly but surely building up stake. While it will potentially get even harder to stake, we're still wishing, hoping, praying, whatever, that the STEEM value, maybe in spite of what is done here, will eventually turn around.

For as much nonsense and shooting ourselves in the foot that goes on around here, there is plenty to like about the way STEEM is set up. It is among the best blockchains for utility, and for scalability and speed. While Steemit Inc. was forced to cut costs, that ultimately will serve STEEM, too, leaving many others in catchup mode if they haven't already bared the brunt of excessiveness as STEEM has.

I think those, and other reasons, will ultimately combine to make STEEM an awesome buy for investors, and investment firms, once all the haze from self-inflicted wounds and smoke from outside sources with their own agendas finally clears. It's just going to take time. Probably at least a few years.

Through our communities, we'll see just how resilient STEEM is or isn't. If we can get through the worst of HF21 (whatever that ultimately is), we may find ourselves with a bright future ahead.

We Truly Love Creating/Curating/Engaging

I didn't come here for the social aspect of STEEM. I came here to create. In the meantime, I've picked up on the curating and engaging part, while my love for creating has not diminished. I don't think you need to have a love for all three, but one of them would be good, if the first two reasons mentioned (communities, the future) aren't strong enough. And no, I don't think you have to be a part of any one community to engage (I'm not), but it certainly helps.

According to steemworld.org, this will be post 492 for me. I have always wanted to blog on a regular basis, but was never able over the years to keep it going for any great length of time. It wasn't for lack of having something to say or create. It was because I was screaming to the void. It can feel like that here, but after over 18 months of more and more consistent posting, I'll have a few who will holler back. It's good to know someone is out there.

And of course, the old song of "nowhere else will pay you to post" does come into play, even if it is mainly a pittance. I feel like I have been helped out quite a bit through the two larger curation trails, curie and ocd, so I'm sure my average earnings look better than what I typically see on most posts, which is roughly $0.25 to $0.50. There are the rogue whales and orcas roaming around, too, (theycallmedan is one of them) along with all the dozens of smaller fishes that take the bait and allocate something.

But I don't know that everyone experiences that. My guess is most users don't see at least a monthly curation trail upvote, and feel fortunate if the said whale or orca swims by.

So, enjoying ways to add value to STEEM through creation, curation or engagement is another reason that can keep us on STEEM.

The Myth

I'm putting the idea of decentralization, transparency, accountability, anonymity and so forth as myth, because as a matter of practicality, it hasn't happened yet. Maybe to some degree, maybe better than other places, and maybe more than STEEM gets credit for, but it still has a long way to go.

Some of us here, though, have bought into that dream, of borderless currency, the ability to transact without a third party, the opportunity to tap as an individual into the global market place, to free oneself from the shackles of any single governing body—all of those promises and more are wrapped up in blockchain and cryptocurrency and the underlying technology.

Those of us who want this better world are not just here because of the allure of creating for some amount of audience, or being rewarded for it, or finding people we like to talk with from anywhere in the world. We're here because, one way or another, a global transformation is coming, and it can either continue along the path it's been going, which is more towards a centralized, worldwide governance, or it can be upended completely and fractured into as many pieces as their are humans occupying the Earth.

That won't just happen on its own, and contrary to some beliefs, it's not going to happen just because the technology exists. People have to push it along, interact with it, want it enough to keep using it until the transformation takes hold. That means us, people. We're on the front lines of an age old battle that has just recently seen a pinprick of light at an otherwise ever darkening tunnel. Do we stick with it, despite the gathering gloom, or do we just let it go, and let all the freedoms which have been fought and sacrificed for over the centuries slip through our fingers.

If we're not progressing, we're regressing. There's very little standing still, and even that will feel like a sprint if we don't continue to shove this thing along.

Belief In STEEM

I guess I've been hinting around this with what I've already said, but it's probably time I just say it. A reason for staying here could be a belief in STEEM. Hopefully, it's not a blind faith, though. It will be best if you've looked around at the other possibilities, the wekus and the whaleshares, VOICE and whatever else might be out there, and realized they all have their troubles, too, and they don't have the head start STEEM has, nor the underpinnings already in place.

That's not to say they can't catch up if STEEM doesn't keep pressing, improving, and so forth. A lot of time has been wasted over the last three years just getting bearings, letting alone producing anything. Too many side tracks to wander down rather than full steam ahead on what matters most. And I'm not talking about the cost saving code production. That's actually been quite useful. It was everything leading up to it, which got laid bare by the bear market.

STEEM is better than it has been because of it. STEEM users have been taking on their own initiatives and following through with them. Whether any of them have prolonged success, or bring more users to STEEM is yet to be seen, but regardless of how people might feel about them, the innovation is coming from more than just one source, and ultimately, as long as it continues, this innovating will lay the foundations for more of it in the future, making possible things that aren't possible now.

That's the potential of the technology of STEEM. There's much more beyond just the code that STEEM has going for it, even with all the garbage that blows about. There's a lot to like amid the clutter. It won't be the greed or failings (however naysayers wish to categorize it) of a few dozen whales and top witnesses that will ultimately be the demise of STEEM. It will be the rest of us failing to see the value STEEM really holds, and plodding along as things turn bleaker that will ultimately do her in.

Wrapping It Up

I'm sure there are other reasons to add. Feel free to find and claim your own. Obviously, you will still need to see it as a worthwhile endeavor. If that's not the case now, it's unlikely it will be any better after HF21.

And if by some not so little effort by those who back the EIP, along with a good portion of those of us who don't, we all manage to make it work, well, that might just be reason enough to hang on.

In my case it's hope for the best, steel myself for the worst, and expect that things will fall somewhere in between.

Find your reason if you want to stay on STEEM. I think post HF21, we're all going to need them.

_{Image source—Pixabay}