Hello everyone! It is once again July 22nd. Four years ago today, I decided to join Steem. Every year, I write out a post on July 22nd talking about how I came to join Steem, what I have observed over the years, how my accounts have done for curation, and, starting this year, I will also discuss what I expect moving forward.

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How did I join Steem?

In the summer between 8th grade and 9th grade, Steem blew up. It had been around since March, but it was not until July that many users began adopting Steem. My father discovered it around this point, and he tried to convince me to join and try posting some. He had given me an antminer earlier that year for Christmas, and having only made 30 dollars mining bitcoin, I was disappointed. When he introduced me to Steem, the top trending articles were making thousands of dollars (with the very top one receiving a 40 thousand dollar payout). The same thoughts that I so often criticize in people skeptical of adopting crept into my head; thoughts like "This is too good to be true. It must be some kind of scam." But my father was persistent, and after a week (on July 22nd), I decided to sign up for an account, and write my first post.

In that same day, I also posted a video I made about an obscure fact I learned about Bach's first Invention, a link to something I called symphony, and a video of something I was calling a sonata movement. All of these posts made several hundred dollars. After that point, I was hooked.

When I joined Steem, the price was around 4 dollars, and it was ranked Third highest marketcap after bitcoin and Ethereum. During that year, the price dropped to 20 cents, but I continued to post. Steem became a vital part of my life, and I used every chance I got to write articles. For several months, I was writing a new article every day, and running several series. These series included my review of Sun Tsu's Art of War, my weekly7 series, and my composer birthday series.

A lot has happened since then, and I have been posting on Steem ever since. I started other series such as my commentaries on the Confucian Analects, and also highlighted significant life events on my blog such as Junior prom. In that time, the price rose as high as 8 dollars, and then slowly decayed back to 20 cents. I never really was bothered by this fact because I still think Steem has enormous room for growth in the long run.

Curation Rewards

In the last year, my father and I have made over 7,000 Steem (1,400 dollars) in curation rewards. This means that we have given out roughly the same amount of Steem to authors here on steem!

What has changed?

In the past three yearly posts, I have talked about obscure little things that no one remembers changing. This year, there is certainly a lot that has changed.

• First of all, the obvious change is that Steem now has a vision. For the years prior, it felt like the leaders of Steem and the Steemit team were shooting randomly and blindfolded for the big target of "mass adoption." They focused on improving the technology, and figured that they would hit "mass adoption" eventually through their improvements. They did not focus whatsoever on improving user experience. By contrast, under the new Steemit team's guidance, we can see a concrete plan forming. They have a plan for improving user experience; not only to improve the amount of users recruited, but also the amount of users retained. As Steve Jobs once said, "You've gotta start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology." I have high hopes that the current team understands that, and that is a huge and positive change in my opinion.

• The next change I would like to discuss is that there is currently little to no drama here on Steem. I can remember a time when inflammatory comments were thrown left and right, and huge flag wars started between titanic stakeholders who had no care for the users posting on this platform. These immature stakeholders did not care about how their power struggle effected the platform as a whole, and their actions reflected this. For the first time in my four years, those immature individuals are no longer controlling this platform. I think we often take this positive change for granted, and I think we underestimate how much short-term damage those individuals did to this blockchain.

• The last change I would like to talk about is in the Steemit Team's involvement. They have gone above the call of duty in trying to build a community here, and have done great things with the 100 days of Steem, the diary game, and their other challenges! These things definitely do have a positive impact here on Steem, and it is radically different from the old Steemit team's approach.

• Some changes in regards to technology include: a change from 25 percent curation rewards to 50 percent curation rewards in articles, the creation of communities, and the power down period being reduced to four weeks. All of these changes will definitely look good to potential investors.

• In the last four years, Steem has changed a lot. If you want to read about the years prior, here are my previous yearly articles about these things. Click the respective year. 2019, 2018, 2017. I would love to discuss all of the little changes (like how articles used to pay out after a day), but there are too many to discuss, and I've talked about them in those previous articles.

What do I hope for?

In the coming years, I definitely hope to see a rise in Steem's marketcap and price (As we all do). I think this will be achieved by rewarding content here on Steem that outsiders will find attractive. In the previous months, I think we have been very successful at this. One of the large problems in the past was having a trending page full of articles about Steem. I think the new community has done (and should continue to do) a good job at rewarding content that will be attractive outside of the Steem community.

One thing I also hope to see is more of an emphasis put on the importance of curation. Curation has a direct effect on the value of Steem because it requires commitment and investment. In all, Steem needs way more curators if it hopes to succeed, and I hope to see further marketing (by the Steemit team, and the community) based on the positive effects and ROI of curation.

In the coming years, I also hope to see a better interface adopted by the Steemit website, and better features installed. I think these will be crucial towards the success or failure of Steem.

Lastly, I hope to see the discussion aspect of Steem expanded upon. I have tried to incentivise this through my weekly discussion posts, and the response from the community has been amazing! I think the discussion aspect of Steem is something that has not been utilized to its full potential, and I hope that more users will create posts meant to generate discussion. For now, I hope that users will consider at least joining my discussions!

Steem Greeter Announcement

I will be resigning my position as a Steem Greeter effectively on August 1st. In the last few weeks, I have realized how much I need to do for college, and I can no longer afford the time it takes to be a Steem Greeter. I am really proud of what we have done, and I am sad that I will no longer be a direct part of the important work being done, but college begins in August, and I must focus on that.

Conclusion

With that being said, thank you for reading this! I look forward to seeing how this platform grows in the coming years, and continuing to have it be an important part of my life!