I am thrilled that a seasoned Steemian such as yourself weighed in on this!

for me Steemit is the flagship. So there's a certain amount of pride there, or at least there should be.

I feel the same way. I feel loyal to Steemit, and even though the other applications add diversity, it's sad to see some people suggesting that Steemit.com is becoming obsolete. If that's the case we will have to adapt though. I hear a lot about SteemPeaks being a better alternative.

As for the trending page - AMEN!! It should display the best, the brightest, the most interesting. Currently trending in no way represents who we really are. I think that restricting those who use bidbots should be only one aspect of the algorithm. It needs to be able to detect proper spelling, grammar, sentence structure, scan for plagiarism, highlight originality and talent, ect. Ok, maybe that's asking too much - only a human could really do that. 😉

Dancing around the living room with my then 5 year old daughter, about two and a half years ago after seeing that first dollar sum under one of my posts.

Haha! Totally know the feeling. Seeing success on a post is powerful, and can snap anyone out of a bad mood, guaranteed!

Thanks for your contribution. Resteeming! 😘