You're 100% right about comments @nathanmars. I've been on steem 16 months and it has been up down and all over the place in regards to the level of vote support on my posts... but, and I feel this is an important distinction... it was only when comments got less on my posts that I started to feel seriously despondent about steem.

The truth is that comments are the only indicator that people are actually reading/watching/listening to content that you put out. After receiving 0 comments (other than bots) on some of my creative writing posts, I decided to put less creative writing on steem. Writing is what I studied at university, and I feel like that content is to a very high level, so I made the conscious decision to start saving it to send for consideration to mainstream publication. I'm not wailing on steem here, just articulating something I've been worried about with our community for some time now. The fact is that as a writer I was happy knowing people were reading and enjoying, or even not, but at least engaging with my work. The money was secondary, and a lot of fiction writers and poetry writers would say the same. But the engagement levels on steem right now is so low, that a vast proportion of these people are leaving.

This is why what you, and many others in the community are doing, is crucial. Talented people are paramount to the success of this platform as the content is the front facing market of steem. If the bleed of talent continues then steem becomes severely limited in its appeal. This platform needs wide and varied subject matter, especially if crypto enters mainstream at some point.

Ha ha, anyway just musing on steem. Keep up the good work m8