I definitely feel that Steemit has a long road ahead of it. As to your point, yes, there should definitely be an implementation of a chat function on Steemit itself for further engagement within the community. I think a bigger issue Steemit might want to address right now would be driving more adoption of the platform and gaining more users, which as of this point, I would say, Steemit isn't doing the best. The signup process requires quite abit of time on top of phone verification, of which I personally had some quite some challenge doing before finally being able to get it. As much I do definitely understand that those parameters are set in place to avoid abuse of the Steemit system, I believe much has to be done to streamline this process to further the adoption of Steemit as a platform, for, without users, the platform is worthless. And I see the registration process, in it's current state, to be a little too challenging which potentially drives away a large number of individuals who are turned away through sheer frustration.

I nonetheless love this platform, what is stands for and intend to be a fully contributing member of this community and want to see it flourish to it's full potential!