Thanks for the post @steevc.

I agree with you 1000%....steemit and STEEM are just at the starting gate. We are really looking at an explosion in 2018. I feel very confident that an account with even a couple hundred steem power will be very happy by the end of 2018.

SMTs are really going to help this blockchain along. Communities are one of the most excited, and anticipated features I can recall. Streamlining the sign up process will really help things. PLUS the rewards that you just mentioned means that people are really going to be excited by the USD figures posted on the site.

PLUS there is a wonderful core group that is dedicated to helping others grow their accounts. Whether it is the altruistic delegating of SP, the adopting of a newer person, or spreading votes around to others, we are seeing many people embrace the exact opposite attitude you referred to in the flag wars. This is very encouraging.

I could go on and on...in fact I do in my blog posts which are almost exclusively steem based these days.