Nobody reads titles anyways

         To ensure maximum suffering, I decided to include no images in this post.

         When I started my journey on the Steem blockchain, I envisioned myself as an average user. That is, checking out some cool blogs and enjoying myself. I would take my jolly time in a place where creators and artists would get their fair share. I would receive some compensations for curating content, provided I had enough SP.

         I knew there would be controversial materials, but I thought some of them might be hidden gems. If not, they could be for laughter.

         Soon, I discovered that there are dapps on the platform. I thought that was cool because not everyone had to be bloggers or artists. As time progressed, the exhilarating feeling of a brave new world faded.

What happened?

         This place got boring. It is lackluster. It is inferior to what is out there in the world.

         I look at the trending page. Nothing too spectacular I want to read. If those posts are people's weird flex, okay. Do you know how silly it is to scroll through that place and saying this in your head:

"Praise the sun! It's not another @chbartist post."

         If you wonder why I have not flagged all the @jackmiller posts, that is 95% of the reasons there. He gets points for adding variety. D is for diversity, apparently.

         The pseudo-entrepreneurs would tell you to "promote yourself". Why the hell would I do that? I came to consume content, but winded up having paid advertisements shoved down my screen.

         See? The problem stems back to this sentiment: become a superstar yourself! Guess which prominent Steemian said that? It does not matter, I am sure many people said that at some point.

         Why does no one consume content around here? Should you fail your quest to become a superstar, try the alternatives:

1. Bid your crap like crazy and earn 20% or more from BUYING votes. Let me put emphasis on the buying part. Nobody has to enjoy your dung when you can magically print more money for yourself.

         Steem has the most profitable solitaire game in existence. If you have the stake yourself, all the better!

2. Find a way to game the system. Do some faucet delegation abuse. Cash out on the bonus Byteball airdrop while you are at it. After all, 100 Steem in bids can stretch a long way if no one flags you.

         Steemit Inc. cannot onboard actual users. But hey, they managed to onboard tens of thousands for the abusers.

         Let us not get started with the nature of promotion. The return on investment "starts" the moment the bots vote on you. Till this day, not a single friend of mine does not think that this practice seems like a scam.

         Good thing we have flags! Oh wait, people feel entitled to their "pending payout". Because "muh freedom" and "decentralization" are perfect legitimate reasons to be an ass. To be more specific, be the ass you have always dreamed, but never dared to be.

         But, the blockchain is not all about content! Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why the hell do you want "average users" to come in here then?

         Moving back to the dapps. I have only ever liked one of them: @musing. I was there before there were big upvotes. I took a small break when Steemit Defence League came out with their plague. It was not fun having an answer displayed with net negative votes. Then again, I was too dumb to realize nobody cared anyways.

         As time passed, more and more spammers and plagiarizers showed up to try to fool the curators. Losing delegations could be a good thing. Less parasites coming in to extract value from the system.

         Instead, I find myself spending more time on YouTube and texting again.

         Are there any other cool dapps out there? Please do not say @magicdice. What is so innovative about that? So, I get to play a poorer man's version of Vegas and circumvent some gambling laws in my country? Mass adoption, here we come!

         Some of the blockchain defenders would argue against this view. Call it FUD or whatever. I try to view things through my friends' eyes. Remember, these are the people you are trying to convince to opt into crypto.

Here are some food for thought:

1. I do not feel good telling my friends about Steem. Those I have told find it unimpressive. The masses do not care about "potential". The only thing outsiders see is a shoddy alternative social media.

2. The masses care little about the so-called superior technology. Does it speculate? Most people are in crypto to speculate. Nobody gives a damn if your coin is 10x, 100x, faster than BTC. Visa does 2000+ per second. Put that into perspective.

3. Fact: most crypto-enthusiasts still cash out in fiat.

4. Did we lose many users due to low prices of Steem, or we lost many users because people shut off their alts for farming?

5. I did not know how to explain @trevonjb being a "major player" here on Steem to others in crypto space.

6. It does not matter if Steemit =/= Steem. Most do not care about that distinction. It is one and the same to the outsiders. I hope @ned, et. al. learned a valuable lesson about naming for future reference.

7. I am glad I did not push my friends and family to get into crypto during the December 2017 craze. I would have lost a spot at holiday dinners this past year.

Back to my original point...

         Why come to Steem? Some will tell me to power down and leave. Well, it could happen. Or, am I only in it to see if there is anything left to speculate?

         The pending rewards have blinded so many into doing odd behaviors. They cannot see that only those who have large stake, ninja mined or early adopters, manage to prosper.

         For crying out loud, if you are that desperate for money, do an extra shift or two each month. You would earn more money than the cents you are fighting for on the blockchain. You might also enjoy this place more if you are not so obsessed about earning on here all the time.

         Speaking of rewards, what is with @busy.org censoring some, but not all of @thedarkoverlord's posts? So, they refuse blacklist plagiarizers, but decided to pick and choose which leaks are "too terrible" to display?

         Some imagine Steem to be $100+ per coin! In what world would this blockchain be worth that much? We do not even have a working commerce going. Remember @dstors? Ugh, I need a shower after revisiting all that drama.

         Anyways, I felt like writing 1000+ words of insanity. So, there you have it.