Witnesses: They Heard The Community And Are Not Tone-Deaf

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This morning I wrote a post about how the fiasco associated with the Hard Fork was the best thing to happen to STEEM.

My reasoning is simple: it serves as a wake up call to everyone on this blockchain that we are the ones responsible. We are the stakeholders thus we have not only the say, but the responsibility, of the direction of this blockchain.

Therefore, in an effort to up my game, I got on the Witness call on Discord. This not only provides me with a bit more insight but allows me to pass the information along in an effort to educate.

In fact, that was one of the main messages the Witnesses had to pass along. They realize a few different things need to take place. To start, expectations need to be set better. This requires educating people to exactly what is going on and how it differs from the world we are accustomed to. Decentralization is much different than the centralized entities we are use to dealing with. This means a host of problems when doing anything to the blockchain.

Also, the spread of information requires great improvement. The communication broke down, not only between the Witnesses and the community, but also among the Witnesses themselves. This is something that is already being discussed to remedy.

Before going any further, I want to mention a few of the Witnesses that were on the call.

@aggroed
@timcliff
@yabapmatt
@lukestokes
@arcange
@fryst-witness
@pharesim

Forgive me if there were other Witnesses on the call that I missed. Those were the ones I saw.

@andrarchy from Steemit was also on the call giving that perspective.

One of the big points of my post this morning is that we are responsible since we elect the Witnesses. Each of us has a responsibility to learn what they do, their views, and what they do for the community. Thus, we can place intelligent votes for those we think best.

I am not endorsing any of the ones listed here although some are on my witness list. My point here is that they were willing to come on and talk about what happened. At a minimum, I suggest following these individuals to see what they write about and their beliefs as Witnesses. Many (if not all) could be worthy of your votes.

Personally, I think the Witnesses have a good grasp on what happened and why users are upset. One thing that really stood out is that they are very aware of the smaller accounts and the issues with posting. This is not something that is being glossed over.

It was also noted by a few of the Witnesses that the RC system has a lot of advantages to it. To start, it isn't something new since there was the bandwidth model before. Hence, one could not join and do whatever was desired. Secondly, it needs to be determined what is the proper amount of activity to be able to give a new user under the freemium system. Of course, this will take a bit of time to iron out since, as of now, nobody is sure exactly how any RC each activity requires.

Some on the call, along with myself, believe that someone will incorporate that data into their interface in short order. Instead of listing RCs in billions or trillions, the UI could simply list how much of each activity one has or give a shortened unit associated with RC amounts. For example, 1 unit could equal 500M RC with 10 units needed for a post. @aggroed mentioned this idea.

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Speaking of posting, there are a couple of points associated with that. Posts are still the same, either blog posts or comments. The system sees them the same. It was pointed out by @lukestokes (I believe) that there are two RC expenses here. There is an "overhead" cost that is the same regardless of any post and then the text.

He used the example of a post with 1,000 lines versus 2 posts with 500 lines. The later would cost more since there would be 2 "overheard" charges. Hence, it is actually a disadvantage, from a RC standpoint, to split the posts up.

As a reminder, Steemit is not STEEM. This is a point I try to drive home regularly. It is a message that we all need to pass onto newer people. Steemit is the UI that many use yet there are other ways to access the blockchain. In fact, many believe the other ones are much better than Steemit. According to @andrachy, Steemit feels their resources are best suited focusing upon the blockchain and that the interfaces are part of the decentralization to the applications.

This point was contested by a couple of the Witnesses. I presume there will be further discussions about this.

Nevertheless, it is crucial to spread the word that STEEM is much bigger than Steemit. The ecosystem that is developing is under the umbrella of STEEM. There are many other facets to STEEM than just Steemit. Focusing upon that is rather limiting and missing a great deal of the potential that is here.

Finally, it is crucial that all STEEM holders get involved. The Witnesses on the call showed themselves to be engaging and willing to interact with anyone who had questions. This is vital. It is important for them to hear our voice outside the uproars that result when people are upset.

To listen to the call:

https://steemit.com/msp-waves/@aggroed/steem-witness-forum-recording

Overall, in spite of the fevered pitch this week from some, I can say my confidence in the STEEM blockchain keeps increasing. In spite of the screw-ups, we are heading in the right direction. It is important to keep in mind that a lot of what is occurring on this blockchain has never been done before. This is unchartered waters. In other words, there is a great deal of learning taking place by all.

Nevertheless, we have some really smart people who are dedicated to making STEEM a roaring success. Scaling is a major issue in blockchain and this Hard Fork moves STEEM further ahead in that department. Under the old system, and I am not a techie so I do not know why, the scaling to the degree anticipated was not there. Now, once all the bugs are resolved, it will be.

Listen to the call and see if you get the same confidence.

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