Steem Feedback Contest Entry Post; @knowledgefruit

As a member of the Steem community, What improvement would you like to see on the social platform Steemit.com?
Which other features, tools, improvements, and functionalities do you believe will benefit the user experience and improve the usability of the Steemit.com social platform?

I think it is very critical that we understand the problems and issues faced by newcomers, as a new member, the following updates are needed:

1. I just stumbled upon Steemit without knowing much about it and soon as I open the Steemit platform, I was looking for some information about the platform ( there must be an "About Us" icon upfront, it is hidden in FAQ section. )
2. An official small video explaining how to use the platform is necessary.
3. Sign In process must more be simplified.
4. Search option needs some improvements ( always shows posts which are 3years o5 years back).
5. I have posted a query on Steem's official email id but no response yet, it needs to be more active.
6. A chat feature for instant support may be a good option.
7. It took me quite a while to understand how does Steem Dollar or Steem can be converted into real-life currency.
8. I was earlier confused with Steempeak and Steemit. New members must be informed that there are other UIs of Steemit platform.
9. I also got confused over other tools, Steemscan or Steemworld, we must be informed that there are certain websites that provide additional information about your account too. Some people don't understand how does decentralise system work. To some, it looks like our account information is hacked.
10. There is no option to send a private message to someone else.
11. Why is it that people who are posting outside communities do not get upvote or very fewer upvotes? This way people will stop using the blog feature.
12. Some contest should be made outside communities also so that people could earn the maximum.
13. If a site has icons that don't work, it sends a bad signal, Eg. Advertise with steem (https://selfserve.steemit.com/ )doesn't work.
14. Sorting feeds on the basis of language must be there. Sometimes, when I open my feed all trending/new posts are in a different language which I don't understand.

If you are the owner or manager of a Steem community, tell us more about what you believe will improve the "Communities" update and its management system.

I have recently started a community, sharing the challenges involved:

1. Initial support to build a community should come from the Steemit team.
2. There is no community that primarily discusses new communities.
3. There are hardly any posts that talks about "how to build a community".

The insights shared above are the ones in respect to the new steemians. @steemingcurators did a good job with this contest.

I am using these opportunities to invite @prashantkf, @ranashabnam and @shilpawritings to also join in these amazing contest so that we can also here from them about their feedback on steemit.

Thanks