Need a hug?

It is pretty depressing for those looking at the market decline and of course the sense of fear from the impending doom of the crypto industry exacts its toll on our emotional energy. Well, at least for many people this might be the case, others are likely just going about their business as they always have. For me, it is business as usual even though I of course worry about price too.

My worry isn't about crypto disappearing, nor is it about Steem failing as I don't really see those as options at the moment. Of course there is no certainty they will survive but, I accepted a zero fate a long time ago and have come to terms with the outcome. What I am more concerned with at the moment is how best to put the resources I have available to me to the best form of usage.

As said, I am likely to take a second job that offers more security than solo entrepreneurship but this will add 40+ hours to my week. There is a cost to investment and I see this as a small concession if it allows me other options. I requested some time flexibility which means I will still be able to do most of my client training sessions and work longer office hours, this is a requirement for me as I won't take security over the loss of my business.

This takes a large bite out of my already thin time resources which likely means less Steeming if it happens, something I am still trying to come to terms with. In some ways it is a blessing as it is going to force me into finding new ways to approach it, ways I might have been avoiding, like video. I just haven't been able to bring myself to talk into the camera. I was talking to @eveuncovered at Steemfest and she was recommending I try, but I can't even take selfies, it is weird.

New jobs also come with new experiences and that always opens more doors of possibility. I actually think that once in, I have a chance of developing some relationships that are Steem/ blockchain positive and perhaps getting some projects up and running. It has always been my goal to leverage blockchain knowledge and capabilities in Finland at more than just an investment level and this could be an opening to do just that.

For the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to really do well, it has to become ubiquitous, it has to be mainstream. This means it has to continually justify itself in the real world by finding use case and simplify itself to lower barriers of entry. This is not just for the social aspects like Steem this is for all levels. For business, there has to be solutions for ERP and CRM type systems that they feel are more compelling to implement than the current offerings. This is going to happen, it is just a matter of time.

Right now, the large investor class are coming into the market through infrastructure development but they are going to rapidly demand use case for their product range. It isn't good enough to only be speculative as it will too quickly become unattractive to investors looking at playing roulette. Russian in many cases.

This means they will be looking for projects that offer real world application and that is something where Steem is already developing heavily and continues to do so. There is a reason that @ned is focusing the next two years on apps, and that is because it offers real world usage to the masses and if the devs do their job well, simplifies the entire process fro start to finish.

What I am hoping for is collaborative efforts in some aspects that allows the applications to combine resources and harmonize some aspects to improve user experience. This will depend on the individual apps of course but things like Steem Keychain can help with these things. Of course, some oracles could be employed to serve various purposes across app groups too.

When it comes to collaboration, Steem should actually have a competitive advantage over other blockchains as the network is already established and many of the relationships formed. A few egos might need to be reigned in though, which is definitely one of the issues here with some people as they'd rather double down than develop.

In time though, professional teams from the centralized companies are going to start developing apps and services for blockchain and they are going to look at it all in a very different perspective than those here now. While there is still a liberal amount of freedom philosophy and decentralized proponents in blockchain, it is likely that the professional teams will just be paid by their organizations to develop the best they can, without considering whether a dApp is actually decentralized or not.

While this is a slap in the face for many here now, for mainstreaming it is going to be necessary as most users at least to begin with aren't going to dive into all of the intricacies and complexities of things like security. This is especially true for the billions of people who understand internet usage through the likes of Facebook and Google where ease of use trumps security, or privacy.

This doesn't stop those here now from benefiting though, or does it stop them from building and taking part in truly decentralized communities. In fact, it could actually empower many more to do so. For example on Steem and though RC pools or like I mentioned here last week, staking for return, a person could be an investor and still earn on their investment but be part of communities that offer SMTs instead.

This means that a Steem investor could leverage the success of apps on the Steem blockchain but take part in only the ones that fulfill their personal requirements, including ethics. It is about options after all and it is not going to work trying to win hearts and minds by forcing them into participation. If the truly decentralized communities are compelling enough, they will attract users to, even if there is nothing to earn on them. This is especially true for the investor classes as these communities become like clubhouses and hangouts that don't need to return an economic incentive.

So yeah, there might be a lot of FUD in the water and people are always scared of bears but for me personally, I see so many positive possibilities and potentials that it is just a matter of time that they start to make real inroads and snowball into much more. I could be wrong and it all just amounts to nothing but, where we are coming from isn't working either so something has to evolve and I see this as a good of a direction as any other options currently out there for handling communication and organizing business activities across large populations at a global level.

Those that are negative on it all are entitled to their opinion but, why stick around? Are they uncertain and fear missing out so are trying to play on both sides of the fence? Are they looking for support in their decision that it isn't going to work, are they scared to fail (or succeed) alone? There is a lot of FUD out there but when listening to the voices that spread it, you have to consider their personal agenda.

This is the same if you listen to me too of course as I do have a personal agenda also. My aim is to work toward a future where Steem is a strong community backed by a strong economy and that takes a whole lot of work and sacrifice now. Low price is a good way to clean out those unwilling to sacrifice for that future now and a great opportunity for those who are to buy in and stake themselves on that future, back their own vision.

I have little doubt that if Steem starts to do well both as a community and a currency, nearly all of those people who left will come back and fire up their accounts or create new ones because what they left on the blockchain was not the vest version of themselves and well, immutable.

As positive as I am on Steem, if you are the type of person that doesn't work well under various pressures, is unwilling to understand how the platform currently works and what it is moving toward and continually need a community hug every time you experience fear, uncertainty or doubt, perhaps you aren't ready for Steem.

For me and many others though, this is where we thrive, this is where we are the most creative, active and impassioned to work toward that future vision. Take away the uncertainty and the creative force may starve, even while the economic force increases in value.

Need a hug?

_{I am not your girlfriend}

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]