I feel better about Steem today than I have for two months.

in #steem5 years ago

I'm sure anyone reading this today has already seen Ned's post about restructuring the Steemit.com corporation, but let's put a link in here for the sake of anyone coming across this post in the distant future.

I'm seeing a lot of different reactions to that post, but not many of them matching mine: what I'm feeling is relief. This news wasn't a surprise; Ned and several of the top witnesses have spent the last two months in a pretty dismaying desperation mode, trying to attract coin buyers and stakers at more or less any cost. Today I have hope that back-end changes being made mean that mode is being relegated to the past.

Desperation is not attractive in any context, and in a financial context especially, the kind of money that desperation attracts is not the kind you want. As Steemian leaders' goals have drifted farther and farther from building quality systems and more and more toward trying to boost the price of the coin, Steem has become less and less attractive to me, and probably to thoughtful investors as well. In business as in romance, propping up people who are transparently needy is attractive only to abusers.

Today we finally have an opportunity to take a different tack. On first glance, this sort of "bunker-down" mode may be even less appealing than the desperation. The price is lower, Steemit's resources are lower, it's even harder to make a go of witnessing without some other business to back it up.

But cutting down, focusing on core priorities instead of running around courting bad money, and working on the quality of the product again in a low-cost environment offers a route to getting somewhere better, something that desperation mode lacked. The only way out of desperation mode was getting bailed out by Bitcoin speculators. That could still happen, but I now see at least a chance that the project itself will continue to build value, instead of getting caught up in chasing fantasies.

For all its flaws, the core system, the core math behind Steem remains a fascinating experiment, and one that deserves to grow in its own way. Maybe now that can happen again.

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I'm starting to agree with you. I was pretty annoyed with Ned's post, although I wasn't surprised by it. Honestly his posts have always seemed like a front of some kind, whether or not they are I don't think that steemit has been a good leader for the platform.

There really are some very interesting projects building on steem, and some good diverse community that is sticking around. As you say some of the conversations that are happening have convinced me that people are actively looking for solutions to problems on the platform.

It often feels like every person for themselves around here though, i really wish steem had more of a coop vibe, i think that it would do much much better.

Having been through other moments like this, however, I always wonder if the top heavy nature of the distribution with a lack of good leadership from this top, will always prevent steem from getting a stable footing

Glad you are feeling somewhat settled Tim, Can't tell you how much relief that brings me.. xo <3

This is a good way to look at it!

Nice and succinct and positive!

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I was just writing on the same thing earlier today. I didn't really come to many conclusions, it was more a forum for people to share their own, but I'm glad to see that you're encouraged by the changes.

it used to be called the first step of recovery, admitting there is a problem. Now that he has that out of the way, perhaps things will improve. I do however wish that when people see dissenting opinions that the first words out are not "Take your blog and go home then'". It is my opinion that it was this type of attitude leads nowhere.

I do feel sorry for the 70% that got laid-off just before the holidays. First I read about GM plant shutdowns then come home and see closer to home type lay-offs before the holidays. I wish that companies would wait until Feb to break workers hearts.

I won't pretend to feel better, but am hopeful this could be a turning point. It concerns me though that he says they spend more per user than the top sites to run the site. I am unsure how this could have been viewed sustainable, and am curious why the costs are so high given this does not have many of the bells and whistles those other sites offer.

It was asked (and ignored) in Neds post why money was not set aside from all of the Steem they have been selling all year to not be dependent on current market sales.

I am ignorant when it comes to programming and block chain, and some of what I have been witnessing seems to contradict what I hear bandied about since coming here. Talk of how Steemit.inc is not needed, that the dapps and tokens will make this the premier chain. So I have to wonder where all this activity is that is supposed to make Steemit.inc expendable, as I don't see it. Steemit is the premier app on the chain after 2+ years. I question why this is so if the chain is so great for apps. Will all the apps have the same problem of being the most expensive to run as Ned said about Steemit and this is the reason why none have come along and replaced Steemit as the main app?

It seems contradictory when I hear that Steem is the cheap (cost) chain to run on, yet it is the most expensive once an app is running on it.

I am sure much of this is my ignorance talking, but it doesn't add up. Just as it didn't when I heard again and again that they didn't care about the first couple million users (the birds in hand) and were focused on the next 100 million. Seems smarter to strengthen the foundation before building the house.

I am here for the long haul regardless, but I sure hope this falls out in a way that much is reevaluated regarding who is important. Investors need to trust that the ship is being steered right, and creating FUD through a disconnect and poor management decisions is not a step in that direction.

Everyone bitches that the alts are tied to what Bitcoin is doing. This will change if a chain ever gains so much value as a use that so many are investing in the value offered and not speculation. Steem is one of the few chains I have seen that has the potential to do this, and it upsets me that it might never realize it.

Well put, I feel similarly. The writing has been on the wall for the last few months for anyone to read who was motivated to do so.

I had personally been losing faith in Steemit Inc. has shepherds of the platform, something which became undeniable after HF20. This latest statement is the knock out punch, faith value is at zero.

But I too feel counterintuitively and newly optimistic. You see in my opinion Steemit Inc. have been like a pilot who is gradually losing their courage as they get closer to the monster (classic movie trope, take your pick). And at the last second they are compounding some previous bad decisions with a further one. But by jumping overboard they leave open the spot for the crew to step up and take command.

Less allegorically, I have a little more hope now that witnesses might start thinking for themselves and challenging bad ideas with a little more effort than the kind of resigned fatalism we saw in HF20. That's an oar worth putting your back into.

I have a little more hope now that witnesses might start thinking for themselves and challenging bad ideas with a little more effort than the kind of resigned fatalism we saw in HF20. That's an oar worth putting your back into.

I agree that this is what needs to happen moving forward. Witnesses and users need to take more ownership of the ship. DApps like SteemMonsters are a good example and have raised $1.3mil in the 5-months since launching. This knid of deveopment is sure to attract investors.

All the pieces are in place for more projects like this to step up.

Conversly, losing so many talented devs is disheartening and an opportunity for other projects to lure them into their teams. It's unfortunate this has happened.

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