RE: An Open Letter to the Steemit Powers that Be
This is an excellent piece. For my part, I've never been bothered by the fact that there are celebrity contributors regularly featured on the front page, but I can understand the point made about them when it comes to marketing the site. Unfortunately, there are many (Lord knows I've read plenty of posts on the issue) that see their success and their own lack of it as a sign they should just go back to what they're doing. Steemit does need to be marketed more effectively. Others have said it, but realistic expectations will not let users down when they realize they're not pulling in $1,000 for every post they make.
The other thing that needs to happen is external investment in the blockchain. I'm not all that familiar with financing, but I know that you can't create money from nothing. If external demand for Steem doesn't pick up, Steem prices will plummet. I don't presume to know what will happen for certain, and it seems like the devs understood this enough to push the platform to those celebrity contributors to drum up business, but if they simply leave, they're not going to be left with much.
In many ways, I think the reduction of the voting period time would solve many of the problems. It keeps the trending page fresh, gives the average minnow a chance (or at leas the perception they have a chance) to make it there, it encourages engagement and penalizes bots. I don't think the message set was that everyone would get paid, it's about giving them the fair opportunity to get recognized for the content they generate.
I believe If the voting period is reduced, so much of the problem will be solved.
I agree with you. Like you said, active users build the platform, and a smaller voting window forces users to be more active and engaged.