What have worked for you, would hardly work for many other users whose native language is not EN. But this is just... another brick in the wall, step aside. I don't think this is a very significant reason.

I agree with this 100% and actually contribute much of my "success" to it. I'm a native, well educated English speaker and from what I can see - most of those left for Hive. So in one sense, I stand out as a result. If I had to post, comment and reply in Russian, Chinese or Korean (other than the fact that I probably wouldn't have joined), I wouldn't have survived.

The Steem that I trade is also from upvotes but instead of powering up, I use t to provide liquidity to the internal market (volatility is my friend). Other than learning how to withdraw to various exchanges, I've not withdrawn any Steem (yet).

I know that my path here has been unique and almost certainly something that can't be replicated. My objective has always been to make Steemit a better platform and have taken a number of bold steps (and risks) as a result which has presented opportunities that I've taken advantage of. I've no doubt that 100 other people could repeat my journey without the rewards.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your perspective. Your English is superb - better than many who call it their native tongue 🙂