Hi @poeticsnake, this post really strikes a tone with my experience on Steemit. From when I joined five months ago I set my goal to become a dolphin, thinking this would surely enable me to get to a point where I was making a decent enough amount to help me get to my ultimate destination, being fully self-employed. Needless to say, once the infatuation wore off and I learned about the more discouraging/dysfunctional aspects of how Steemit works (or doesn't) I quickly realized that dolphinhood was the "no man's land" of the platform.

I never had even a chance to get @curie 'd, since I put my money where my mouth was and quickly powered up, used @promoted, borrowed delegations, etc. in order to be able to get decent exposure and support other users more easily. It always struck me as odd that people were being rewarded for not investing in the platform (though of course I am aware it is simply unfeasible for many.)

Even though I had around 20K SP (borrowed) all I saw when I looked around was hungry mouths everywhere, and I didn't have the ability to fill them. So I kept getting more to experiment to see "how much is enough?" Turns out, not even 60K SP was really enough. There is such uneven distribution on the platform, and unless you are singled out by some elite clique of whales to get dogpiled on every post (something that I wouldn't even want for myself, think of seeing your every post on trending! For me, that's horrifying, simply because it's monotonous, lame, and stagnatory.)

Anyway, I think @clayboyn and @lexiconical both had really good points here. I'm not yet to the point of being fully jaded, since I have only been around since June. (Not planning on powering down anytime soon.) (Note: I'm not implying that you two are jaded, I just know I'd be a lot more to my wit's end if I'd been around these parts longer! I'm super grateful for the roles you both play in the Steemit community) Also, the idea of Steemit being pretty unprofitable for investors and more about being able to give to others doesn't bother me; it's the main reason why I keep buying STEEM. I see it as potentially paradigm-shifting and in line with the current "hyper-evolution" of the human species that I believe to be occurring. I can look for profit elsewhere. However, I also foresee STEEM being over $10 by the end of next year. It really doesn't matter what the cynics and emotionalists think, because the technical and fundamental analysis doesn't lie. STEEM is still one of the best, most convenient, and widely used blockchains today.

TL;DR

I am very interested in being involved in this project, though I can't offer support of a "whaleish" proportion. IMO dolphins need more support than minnows, who get plenty of "pity votes," often without putting much at risk, as do most dolphins. I like working pretty independently for the most part but perhaps I can be helpful; I'll reach out to you in discord. I can be very stubborn at times and I am willing to lose the $13,000 I've invested into Steemit. I'm not willing to power down.

Sorry for the miniature essay, but I tend to engage to the extreme when something that strikes a chord crosses my path!