Hi Steemians
I have decided to post this only here so as not to hang my dirty washing in 'public' (like to my Youtube subcribers)
I returned from Steemfest2 this week.
Firstly, the POSITIVES!
It was extremely well organised so big thanks to @roelandp for an amazing job done. The venues were superb, food delicious (although lots of dead animals were served) and the entertainment and accommodation was stunning as was the city too.
And then there were the people. Fascinating, engaging and most of them, outside the box. It felt like we were part of a community and we all want this to 'work' whatever that means.
The presentations were on the whole very encouraging and some even blew me away. The Hardfork trailer was amazing and the Steem Park project and Sndbox team have got some fabulous ideas. There are so many people bringing so many ideas and apps into the space including APPICS, DTUBE, DLIVE etc. And then there is the SMT project which I frankly do not really understand fully.
So I had a great time, met great people and even got a bit of sun. And felt that there might be a future in this venture.
But it left me with some BIG QUESTIONS.
I was attracted to Steemit by the anarchic philosophy and decentralisation. I liked the idea of being rewarded for my creations - something that facebook and to a great extent Youtube seem to take for themselves. But the money is secondary to the potential revolutionary side of Steemit.
I was recommended to read articles by Dan Larimer @dan and really liked his philosophy.
Yes I admit. I want a revolution of some sort. A revolution to me means turning the tables and prying away illegitimate power from the parasitic class and giving it back to the people.
It took me a year from the time I joined, to actually make an effort to try and figure out how it worked. I put a call out for help on Facebook and a follower of my work on Youtube @samstonehill contacted me and helped me a great deal with his tutorial videos and one-to-one help.
I still see myself as a beginner and have spent quite a few hours/days trying to figure out how best to play the game. And that is the way I choose to see it. As a virtual reality game. And I am playing as a creator, curator and a recent investor.
So here are my concerns.
Having been brought up in a religious home and in our society in general, I am acutely aware of the power of groupthink. The atmosphere at Steemfest felt to me like there was a positive slant and not enough desire for dissent.
I asked a couple of questions and was brushed off with both of them. So here are my questions.
As I said above, I want to be a part of changing the dynamic in our society from one where a few people hold most of the power. Yet Steemit still seems to have that sort of hierarchy going on. Although it can be argued that inequality is OK and perhaps natural to some extent, there seem to be very little concern about this form the people at the top!!
A French Steemian mentioned that Étienne de La Boétie,
a French philosopher, wrote FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO about voluntary servitude and how that seems to be part of the human condition. I feel to some extent, Steemit has created that kind of feel. We at the bottom end of Steem, are working our butts off, promoting steem at every corner, whilst @ned and many of the Whales, benefit from our efforts without supporting us.
So my first question is, is Steemit just another incarnation of the system just with different parasites sitting at the top with all the power?
I met Dan earlier this year and I could immediately feel a connection with him. He was obviously a genius but also humble. Unfortunately, I didn't get the same feeling meeting Ned. My conspiratorial voice has brought up many questions about him. I can't find any articles that say why he is involved with this project. He is the son of a finance professional and has never rebelled openly against his fathers' industry. And when he was asked at the fireside chat session about his 3.5 MILLION steem sitting in his account, all he could say was that he hoped they would be worth a lot more soon!
THAT WAS VERY REVEALING.
Is Ned in it just for the money? And if so, is that a concern?
Ned did delegate the 3.5 million steem (seemingly to random people) but he recently took it back as it was being abused. Why doesn't delegate it to those who promote steemit and help minnows get traction by putting his steem power out to tender?
At the opening talk he was going on about how this is going to be huge and how many users there are - up to 400,000 but that number is MEANINGLESS. I joined in 2016 but after one post, I didn't engage for a whole year. So why did Ned and others go on about that high number, when the useful number is 25,000 which is the number of active daily users. Thats not a small number but its around a TWENTIETH of the number they bandied around. And why do that? Thats the type of marketing bullshit I expect form a centralised platform.
Why does he not post himself on the site?
Although there are many great people on this platform, and some fantastic stuff is taking place including charity work, there are also plenty of rogues.
There are whales who have enough power to destroy the little man if they take a disliking to him/her. When I brought this up at fest, they dismissed it.
There was also an interesting conversation I had with @sneak who is the CTO. We got onto the topic of vaccinations and as soon as a steemian suggested that there may be a link between autism and vaccinations (based on his personal experience with parents who saw immediate decline in their children's health after vaccinations) he said he would downvote any such idea and walked away in disgust. Which makes me wonder what the values of the people at the top of steemit are holding by?
Then there is the decentralisation claim. Is it really decentralised? How does Steemit inc work in terms of power versus the witnesses?
Can the witnesses decide to fire Ned or any of the dev team?
If Facebook approached Ned and offered him 500 million dollars, what would happen if he accepted it?
What about the 70 MILLION steem sitting in the steemit inc account?
And the groupthink happy thing was disturbing because everyone wants to be on the right side of people so that they get upvoted and not downvoted!
A final side issue is that as an investor I just noticed something which i found discouraging. Dan Larimer has cashed in tens of thousands of steem recently. How can I recommend this as an investment when he is doing that?
I am sure there is a lot more to say, but I'll leave it there.
Looking forward to hearing your comments.
love and blessings
Danny
An ominous but important appraisal of our current situation. You are not the first to voice these concerns and whilst the question always reverberates around the community, bringing to the table so many different potential solutions... nothing seems to change. And your description of how these questions were met seems to tell us why.
One thing I will say is that thankfully there are many now who delegate SP. And sometimes it is delegated specifically to those who challenge the status quo. So while one 'big player' may not agree with the link between vaccines and autism, another will.
But in the end the real power is still in the hands of those few big players.
There is no decentralisation of power in steemit. A cursory inspection of the distribution of wealth or voting power displays that in big letters.
Some say that just reflects the real world. Concentration of power in steemit is mathematically worse than in the real world. In the real world there are a few checks and balances - just enough to ease the social conscience.
Steemit, where Feudalism meets The Terminator...
Hi there, I hear you on a lot of this stuff! We're actually forking Steemfest by bringing it to Acapulco just after Anarchapulco and we're decentralizing the concept, making it an open source build it yourself sort of affair. It's the incubator for the sort of dissent and revolution that leads to real positive change that I think we're looking for. If you're interested, here are the links to my Steemit fork post and the Anarchapulco Fork post as we're forking both conferences.
https://steemit.com/steemfest/@lily-da-vine/couldn-t-make-it-to-steemfest2-consider-our-steemfest-fork-in-acapulco
https://steemit.com/news/@lily-da-vine/anarchoforko-anarchapulco-fork-update-it-s-still-on-here-s-how-to-get-involved
We want the community involved to make this thing awesome and that means anyone from a minnow to a whale. If you've got value, you'll capture attention at our steemfest fork.
That’s a great idea.
We need people like you to get involved to make it awesome :)
Thank you for this candid assessment.
In a sense, you echo what many are feeling and perhaps not saying. I came here as a content creator, hoping to find something alternative to the soup that is Farcebook and the echochamber that is Medium and places like it... a place to create a variety of freethinking social content.
Things here are not as "shiny" as one might think. Steemit doesn't really seem like it has the bones to become an "Anarcho-Facebook." What I keep coming back to is that it often feels like we have a SOCIAL site being run by developers... who are mostly interested in creating apps and add-ons. But it takes PEOPLE to build communities.
And yes, there are some great people here. They just need to make their voices more authentically heard. Fearlessly.
steemit is like a see-saw. Social sitting on one end, techdevs on the other.
Every so often a few get together and pull down on the social end to try to get a balance. But then a new app pops up, or another bit of tech appears and everything slides back to the other end.
And if that doesn't work they can just move the pivot point...
Well, I am not planning to go anywhere... and like @stellabelle and others, I believe there's something here worth fighting for, even if it's going to be a lot of work. I also expect there might be a little more interest in the social end of things now that all the Bitcoin uncertainty is over and people are starting to look at alt coins again. I hate to say it, but people feel better about their chances of making a difference if the underlying currency is doing well.
When the steem rises, the kettle's boiled.
Everyone should make a nice cup of tea, and just keep blogging.
This platform were created for all the rich people who have invested. This is all for money and they are just using their so called missions and plans to cover and hide their desire. Steemit is not a charity, as I usually here from almost every whales in the platform, even those who become whales.
There are so many lies in this community. Like the common question why are we here? Majority would say that we are here for the connection and relationship we have with the community. And I say, it's shit, its a pure lie. Everybody is here for money and just made some false reason just to cover their greed for money.
Here, rich is becoming more richer and if somebody had just become rich in the platform it could be because they were lucky to join first and had gather a lot of rich (whale) friend. Majority of these who had become rich are those people who were with them at the early days of Steemit.
The platform is created to magnify the wealth of the rich exponentially. This is not created for everybody.
I would only believe that the platform is for everybody if there going to change some rule and giving everyone the same value in terms voting and not depending on someone stakes. Lots of people will argue with these because they will say that it would be unfair for the investors. You see, its for them.
Somebody would also say that its not possible to give everyone fair voting value because it will be an avenue for abuse. But what about the current system, isn't it abused already by those who has the authority?
Giving everyone equal voting value will surely make us all happy. But wait, somebody will say that if this system will be implemented lots of people will creating so many accounts and vote for themselves. Come on guys, I don't think its a problem at all. People who created the platform are genius and do you think they could not find a way to filter those people who will create many accounts. There is always a way to control it.
One thing, its a big thing in steemit that you need to find your way towards the eye of whales or to be close with them in order for a steemian to enjoy the platform. People in the trending page are the proof of that. They are receiving the glimmering votes of the whales every now and then. Its a good fortune to be a friend with the whales that can give you $200-$500 a day.
I am jealous? I don't think its only me. Lots of people around the community have this kind of feeling but prefer not to voice out because they are afraid that their account will be buried to oblivion.
I think what is perhaps more true is that there are two distinct "factions" on Steemit... the "tech-devs/crypto/blockchainiacs" and the "content creators." The former are more money oriented and the latter are still interested in rewards but experience them more as a "consequence" than the thing that leads them.
One of the things I think gets completely LOST in this debate is the number of people who come in here with some notion that they are "owed" practically making a living from posting on Steemit. This isn't anyone's job; Steemit isn't anyone's employer, in any sense of the word. All we have been offered here is an opportunityto be rewarded for content.
For comparison's sake, lots of people complain about how Facebook "uses" people to make huge amounts of money. That's actually not exactly true... yes, Facebook makes "billions of dollars" from its users, but it also has over two billion users, meaning that the average user is only "worth" about $20 a year to Facebook. Most people here make far more than $20 a year, so we're already far ahead of the alternative....
@dannyshine, i love the guts in this post. We all playing the nice one just to get favours. But lets cut all the nice crap. This platform is heading not far with the attitude of the whales.
I tell you something, they preach quality content and all of that stuff. The truth is no matter how good a minnow content is, he/she cant get what a whale gets. @ned writes 2 lines and all the whales are out there giving votes in hundred of dollars. Seeking to be on his good sidem
The question is if @ned was a minnow, will he get the attention he gets. So lets face the fact, steemit is a cabal and only the powerful get it big. Only a few are willing to help.
I think it is high time minnow show how much effect they have on this platform.
Am glad i stumble on this post, i really really like your guts and appreciate it. Lets see a whale to come downvote this post.
Great work here Danny, an honest and fair assessment.
I missed the fireside chat and had similar questions to ask Ned regarding the delegation - I need to see this chat.
Agreed that there are some good and bad folks here, I just sincerely hope the good will out.
As you know, I'm keen on a chunk of delegated SP, mainly because I think I can use it wisely, and prove I'm doing so. 3 million can be surely divided more effectly than by 6!
Good to meet you at SF
Asher
Amazing investigative work Danny, upped and resteemed simply because we cannot pretend this system is for everybody, will make you hundreds of dollars a day or even ever, it is evident that the world doesn't make everything fair.
However, we are at the start of what could possibly be the revolution you spoke of, you cannot simply slander it completely.
I respect you taking your own time to research this! I definitely wouldn't want anyone involved at the top of Steemit to be related to any bankers!
I see you powered down yesterday, hope you put it into another crypto. I disrespect fiat!
Anyways, enjoy the rest of your time here Danny because we will miss you 😪.
I am not going yet. Just remaining openly skeptical. Still feeling lots of love for lots of people here.
Great Danny, glad you will still be here, I was inspired by this post and decided to do a bit of my own Blockchain Slander.
Hope Steemit will chage or the new, better system arrives!!!
Have a good afternoon Danny and always stay skeptic, it's the only way to spot the propaganda before it consumes us!
Thank you for posing this question to the community, we respect you for it 👊.
Thank you for this honest review. I had an absolute wonderful time at Steemfest, and honestly I don't judge how much money Ned has in his account and what he uses it for. I do think however, you raised lots of valid questions, and I'm always open for a new perspective and take my rose colored glassed off.
The thing that disturbs me most is that conversation with Sneak about the vaccinations. That story actually reached me before I read it here in your post. It's highly upsetting to learn that team members of the actual Steemit crew will downvote content in which people express their beliefs.
I think downvoting should only be used in very rare cases when someone actually harms others with their content. But if we start judging people for expressing their beliefs, then how is this platform any improvement to what we're seeing in the world out there??
I would have thought the Steemit crew created this platform so that people could express their views freely and be themselves, without any censorship. This incident makes me wonder if this was only Dan's vision, though.
Hm. I hope it was just a one-off, maybe even a misunderstanding, and Sneaks attitude doesn't represent the one of the rest of the team.
The thing with the vaccination issue is that spreading stories about vaccinations causing autism puts childrens' lives at risk. The science is clear on this. So it's not really right to portray that as "[downvoting] content in which people express their beliefs". It's nowhere near that trivial.
The science is clear on this sounds religious. There are scientists who disagree with That.
Sure, but science works by consensus. That some disagree doesn't invalidate the broader consensus. And sciences is in no way religious. It's the antithesis of religion.
In my opinion for some science has become the new religion. And it has its heretics. I like the heretics. Like Rupert sheldrake and Tom Campbell.
I am a huge fan of Sheldrake, and been following his heretical stuff on morphogenetics for years. When he wrote about the delusion of scientists, I realised he was absolutely correct....science has become the new inquisition. My little girl has never had any vaccinations at all, and I will always defend our right to choose. When someone takes that away, telling me its heretical I want to come out fighting.
Honest answer is, I don't know whether I'm right or wrong on this issue, but I'd rather trust natures plan than one made in a laboratory for profit. So from that point of view it's right for ME and my (now separated) wife.
Danny, your ballsy approach is refreshing. It's been great to connect with you via the promo-steem group we are both part of. I've been talking a lot with some of our mutual friends recently about the problems with the Steemit platform, and I for one feel that the way to deal with it is to shout out our truth. Not everyones truth is the same. And we're in the wild west. I don't particularly want to get shot down for saying it. This platform should be able to deal with dissent, because that's how we grow as a community.
I thank you, @dannyshine, and those who have replied for the insights you give. As a 2 month old newbie on Steemit, I recognized almost immediately the 'groupthink' you mentioned. And as an old geezer with many years behind him, I also remember where I saw and heard that attitude before...
Back in the 70's and 80's, an American company called Amway spent a lot of time and money recruiting huge numbers of people with the promise that if they just sold enough soap or whatever, that they would be rich. The reality was far different, however. After alienating all of your friends and relatives by trying to get them involved, then buying hundreds of dollars worth of laundry soap, marketing materials and motivational tapes (these were the cassette tape days!), most of these thousands of hopeful people came to realize that the only ones who were getting rich were those at the top. Nowadays they operate under a different name. But they left a lot of hurt and angry people in their wake.
I see some of that same thing here with the whales vs minnows. Your experiences with those in upper positions just reinforces that in my mind. I still wish to be a part of Steemit, because I believe in the dream. But like many of you, I will dream with my eyes open and one hand on the door.
The Amway analogy is interesting. Amway was selling a product, the Amway product. Here, I would say that what is being sold are authors and not the Steemit platform. So, I highly doubt that Steemit will end up like Amway. Where does the concern about whales destroying minows come from? Who was arbitrarily and unfairly destroyed by a capricious whale?
I didn't mean that I thought Steemit would become like Amway... only the similar idea of many people at the bottom helping to make people at the top rich at their expense. Steemit also has a product: the posts of many talented people as well as the promise of payment. As for the whale vs minnow reference, that was from various posts by other Steemit people that I have read over the last couple months. Just an observation, I guess. Not meant to offend.
Yea, the question about the concern regarding minows being capriciously destroyed by whales was meant to @dannyshine .
I don't think that a promise of payment is the product which Steemit sells. I think the promise of payment is for the product that they want: the interesting articles people have to offerto their platform. IMO, the only thing Steemit has is the show room or platform and the automated systems available to curators and authors.
My question is who is really concerned that Steemit succeeds at preventing people from earning their fare share of cash on this platform? What is Ned's fare share? He is the first to find a way not to take 100% advantage of the public by giving a share back. What is stopping anyone from starting another kind of Steem on a new site owned by a coop or something non-profit ?
I agree with a lot of things you say. On the moment it seems that we are dependent on 'handouts' of the whales. This is exactly as it is in real life. We NEED to start to think differently. (see my recent post: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@lirfael/cryptos-for-good-discussion-for-people-that-know-the-ins-and-outs-of-cryptos ). We have to create some system that equalises the gap. However as is very visible on steemit, everyone also needs to take their own responsibility (ie not flooding the system with crap for example). I'm sure it's there is not an easy solution and in my eyes, we have to change our values, from 'greed' to 'wellness'. That needs to be supported in some way. I do not know how, or if this is even possible, but maybe someone does :-)
🤗Wow! I found my like-minded person! I have conflicting feelings being here! I came in August 2016 and was fascinated by the idea of anarchism, which was declared by the developers! I invested 12 thousand euros in Steemit and was proud of the fact that I am a part of my decentralized platform. I walked along the street like a crazy city man in a T-shirt with Steemit symbols and told everyone about the best social network in the world. But after the new Steemit logo appeared, it was registered as a trademark with limited use. I realized then that I was wrong about Steemit. This absolutely centralized platform is no different from the others. I, as well as you, are a revolutionary and an anarchist! I completely share all your views! I do not eat animals - I'm vegan! I will follow you! I stay in Steemit because I can meet people like you here! We need to be in touch! Thank you that you exist! To live not by lie! 😍😘😗😙😚🤗🤗
The good: I found you via this post, and now have connected with another VERY like minded person. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dannyshine. Steemit is way better than facebook for "social media" IMO.
The bad: Your post brings some very serious problems under the microscope, and they are nasty little bugs you found.
The ugly: The concerns I have harbored since I joined, and one that is growing in me now that you have not even addressed...
I don't know Ned or Dan or anything about them. Call that disclosure.
I have had a niggling feeling at the back of my mind that this is a GIANT thumb twiddling distraction. Not a government run one per se, but a LIHOP. I see MANY activists on here, and we are not really out there educating the masses. We are here trying to get upvotes and resteems... Not challenging those who stand for the status quo, not even writing our selected reprehensitives. The political energy of the Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders people could easily be drained off on a site like this... A nice comfy echo chamber where we make a little money to just talk to people we agree with...
And now I have been here a few months. Conditioning humans to accept bot overlords is not really cool in my world, but this place seems to do a great job of just that.
Anyway, thank you for sticking your neck out. There is a LOT of potential here. If Dan and Ned, just let the ship drift, I suspect someone else will take their concept and do a better job of it soon. Too many talented tech people are here, when this place begins to stop functioning to their satisfaction, they will improve it or build a better platform.
Good to meet you and thanks for your insights. I especially like the one about how this place is a nice little pen to keep all the activists locked up spending time trying to earn a few pennies for their posts which are seen by very few people when they could be out on the streets doing their thing. I personally don’t want to spend too much time in front of a screen. I would rather be outside engaging and creating the content for my films than working out how to get a few quid on here.
I agree with you on some aspects. Nothing is perfect, but I believe the people behind steemit have good intentions. Maybe I'm mistaken. Anyway Ned just delegated 1 million to a project helping developers. I want to see more whales doing things like that, without expecting to get paid. I have delegated to a few people so they can use my voting power. I've done well from steemit, but I want to see it reach its potential to help many more people
Thanks for letting us know this. Wasn't aware of the 1 mil delegation. Though shame it wan't for one of us, the dedicated users who have been advertising his platform for the last year.
Exactly. He seems to be just focused on what will make the most money forgetting that it’s the users why are most important.
this was really good to read as it echoed some of my own thoughts as well. You inspired me to write my latest post. Thanks for that.
Apologies for the crude belly rubbing but I really liked your last couple of posts too. Maybe there is some hope.
It is interesting that you had this conversation with sneak.
Because he has flagged my posts about vaccinations,
and he has left comments asking everybody to flag posts like mine.
Fortunately he seems too busy with his job to find most of the posts on that topic, but he does sometimes get on the site and flag a few in a day.
I absolutely agree that this is bad behaviour for an employee of Steemit, especially when it is advertised as a censorship free platform.
The whole flagging thing brings up questions. It’s not clear what it’s floor. Maybe they should have different categories like abuse, etc but not just because I disagree with someone.
I think that there should be a drop-down box before you flag,
where you check off one of the acceptable reasons.
Or maybe the last reason could be "I'm just a jerk!" ... lol ...
Sneek might break that box right off.. From clicking it so many times. :-/
The game we are playing is crapitalism, and stinc has access to some of the best players on the planet.
Their actions say that short term gain at the expense of everybody else is just fine, it's just how the game is played.
The facts are that the masses will never be authors on steemit,
there isn't enough reward pool to feed that many people.
At best we can support ~100k active authors, the insiders know all this and act accordingly.
They are not concerned with long term price support because they can pull 100's of k's out of here each week with no consequences as this is a dao, nobody can be held responsible for any of it.
Why would they care if they run off authors that can't be made happy here until the insiders stop raping the reward pool?
As long as the largest holders of sp keep that sp active by delegating, selling, renting, or voting that sp in any way the little guys suck hind tit.
When only little guys' sp is in the mix then we are equal in votes, but when 1m sp decides to vote, whether delegated or rented, then those with less than 10mv watch their votes go to pennies.
When the community finds leaders with less than 50mv to rally around we will find change.
Steemit is essentially a bot-farm pretending to be a social platform.
Until that changes, I predict content creators will eventually go elsewhere.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but the trajectory is firmly pointed in the automation direction, with pit-stops at self-voting and other shennanigans.
Valid concerns. Like most of us here who are active, I'm hanging on because I believe in this platform and enjoy the discussions
Yes Danny your spot on the
I am posting the same comment I have just written for the post by @diabolika (https://steemit.com/steemit/@diabolika/how-to-live-off-poor-steemians-and-help-the-rich-get-richer-full-guide-and-128526#@vibeof100monkeys/re-diabolika-how-to-live-off-poor-steemians-and-help-the-rich-get-richer-full-guide-and-128526-20171107t184806470z) as I feel it totally fitting :)
[-]vibeof100monkeys 51 · 19 minutes ago
I think this post says a lot of thing many Steemers are thinking. It's very like society and shows that even freethinkers can get sucked in. I have never used a bot and would rather make my money (which in not my priority i might add) due to good content.
So I guess in society the little people have the power when they realise coming together to create solutions is the way. We have all been brainwashed into power structures an hierarchical structures . This way of think needs to end I dont read in whale way of thinking as it creates a hierarchy we all joined to oppose !
I come for the information that people here have about crypto. There is the possibility to make more cryto and see this platform grow on the side but for me this is a place where I hear voices from around the world and although its small community now, most of the people here are very intelligent for better or worse and almost all of us understand the basics of crypto. For me this is why Im here with this community first but now I see the potential for all sorts of amazing idea sharing. I too joined a year ago and did not interact with it for a long time but coming back to it and seeing so many people interested in sharing there thoughts and ideas makes me use it almost daily now for at least the latest news and ideas in the crypto space at large. Starting the conversation is the first step tho to making anything change, I hope that more people will engage with the conversation of growing for the betterment of the people using the platform, all of them. I will continue to resteem anything I raising questions about the platform with the intention of helping its users. The first step is to admit we have a problem in order to even consider looking for solutions. I solute you and your efforts in these community of people. Keep raising awareness!
The Future Hodls......
Danny, I think a lot of the people at steemfest did not want this type of ‘negative’ press at the fest. My opinion is that most of these are legitimate questions. My solution is that we should create initiatives and solutions that are so good that they render these questions unnecessary. My plan is to get involved with positive initiatives on the platform that will help better spread the steem and bring new added value processes into steem in an attempt to benefit all, removing a feeling of minnow versus whales
Curious how you view spam fighting in the greater scheme. My opinion is that spam/scams/junk definitely make the site less likeable.
If you agree, or have friends that would agree, check out @public-eye
He is starting to do work with steemcleaners and similar work as @sherlockholmes was.
A cleaner steemit allows us to notice more of the positive improvements.
a very good post, I really like the picture and its relevance
A dismal however essential evaluation of our present circumstance. You are not the first to voice these worries and while the inquiry dependably resonates around the group, conveying to the table such a large number of various potential arrangements... nothing appears to change. Also, your portrayal of how these inquiries were met appears to disclose to us why.
One thing I will state is that fortunately there are numerous now who appoint SP. Also, at times it is assigned particularly to the individuals who challenge business as usual. So while one 'major player' may not concur with the connection amongst antibodies and a mental imbalance, another will.
Be that as it may, at last the genuine power is still in the hands of those couple of enormous players.
Your concerns are also my concerns.
It seems most of the top SP holders (the whales) do not support the layers below them in the SP pyramid. Some to more of the top SP holders started to capitalise on their SP, through selling/renting their SP or launched their own vote sell service giving them more revenue then before.
I also noticed quite a few of early day Steemians powering down, not only Dan, but more, many more.
I personally think some of the power needs to be re-distributed; How that shall be done is the question.
I for sue dont have an absolute believ in the good of Steemit Inc and (some of the) powerful users; This is fuelled by the fact that until dec'16 a hyper inflation with correction was build into the Blockchain that made some of us super rich in SP/Steem (sorry, I have no exact analyses done, but with 0,6% inflation per day it is easy to do the math).
On topic of power and witnesses. I suppose the witnesses with a lot of power decide. And I suppose the power in Steemit Inc for witness votes can steer (some of the) witnesses to a certain wanted behaviour.
Hi @dannyshine, you asked many important questions but ultimately I don't think there is a perfect solution to any of those questions. I would argue that the platform merely provides a tool for people to work towards the community that they want but not necessarily the one that they need. But I do think it is a place where you can get what you want out of it and find plenty of likeminded people as well. The main difference for me is that most people here are actively 'doing' (maybe because of the potential financial incentive) rather than just 'trying'. And ultimately if this doesn't end up being the next 'bitcoin' then only the people who were here in pursuit of a community that cares about them and what they do will benefit. I think this is the balance that steemit will continue to struggle with because of the opposing forces at work here and it is not different to any other systems or organisations.
Your last sentence is the key one...
The promise is that the platform is and will be different.
Often times, it seems like the end result is no different than farcebook, YT etc
That's probably why utopian societies only exist in books and not real life. But I happen to know more good people here on Steemit compared to facebook, so I will stay here a little bit longer and see if we can avoid that big iceberg or if this is indeed an unsinkable platform...
That’s interesting! I’m not sure I know what my real motives are. Perhaps a therapist might be able to tell me!! Can you explain why you think it’s the other way around?
He’s working on a new project at eos.
I don’t see it like that at all. Have you read dans articles about his philosophy?