Apologies for the pessimistic undertone, but something needs to be said about the current state of Steem. I can’t help but notice the influx of unoriginal, financially-driven and, quite simply, ’shit’ posts that’ve made their way to the front page of the platform. We can’t keep following this path, if the community desires widespread success, then we need adoption - and fast. Ask yourself this, why would someone take time out of their day to participate in an entirely new and alien social network without the good content that STEEM was created to inspire? Plenty of alternatives exist on the market, all of which harbour the very user-base that Steem is attempting to capture.
Steem is far from mainstream. Almost every successful and well-remunerated post is crypto-oriented in one way or another; put simply, no average social media connoisseur would seek refuge in a platform infinitely smaller and oh-so focused in its own technology. An unbelievable amount of posts are centered around the Steem technology itself, do you see this on Facebook or Twitter? Our current situation is doing nothing to drive the adoption of Steem.
We need more users for Steem to succeed. More people posting 'normal' things. And the number one driver of adoption, or change for that matter, is money. Once people are aware of the financial aspect of Steem, they will flock to the platform to get their piece of the pie. Let it be known to the public about these incentives and Steem will experience significant growth. After all, the only real difference between Steem and other traditional social networks – besides its decentralised nature -, is its purely financial basis. Take time out of your day to let people know about Steem and why they should use it. Create Reddit posts, take out advertisements and do whatever it takes for this decentralised sub-culture to prevail.
At its current point in time, the Steem platform couldn't be further from decentralisation. The same individuals are paid hundreds of dollars’ worth of Steem per post for non-thought provoking and repetitive content. This is not the type of monopoly that we want to promote for Steem to see widespread adoption. In fact, you can almost compare it to the unequal wealth distribution of the world. For the sake of the network, only upvote the quality content that you believe should bear the torch of Steem’s unrivalled social phenomenon. Reward the real content creators and Steem shall flourish.
We, the community, retain the power to curb the influx of shit-posts. Reward the shit-posters, and the value of Steem shall diminish. Inspire the creation of genuinely interesting and captivating posts, and the network shall flourish. Together, we can grant Steem the greatness it has never experienced.