Let me start with what I see to be clear and obvious:

The implementation HF20 was not clean, professional, or really "successful" from the basic Steemit.com user's perspective. This was clearly voiced as a pronounced market reaction across social media as the official Twitter account and Steem blog here on the platform continued to urge users to be patient, and even--if I am not mistaken--to "go outside" for a little while. The official sources continuously voiced excitement and contentment with the new system, and botched implementation, while bagholders and investors were assured by the official sources and other zealouts that everything was "successful" and they were just being negative or "too judgmental."

A few things to note:

• The Steem blockchain has been severely compromised and for over ten hours at a time twice over the last two weeks. Imagine this happening to other reputable chains. How would the response differ?
• Due and timely detailed, adequate notification was not given to users regarding the impending temporary shutdown of their accounts. This means important transactions were halted, contest deadlines were ruined, and posts uploaded just before the HF suffered considerably from a rewards perspective. Some accounts here are worth tens of thousands of dollars. It seems like a little more attention should be given to communication. None of this is to mention the confused new user population.
• Auto-vote lists were basically knocked out.
• Users who were most productive on the platform and were said to have a "debt," and new users, were encouraged to purchase more SP to be able to post, even though said purchase did nothing for those who followed these instructions. This is questionable and unfortunate at best. Highly suspicious at worst.
• As pointed out by other users, the implementation of RCs (which decision to implement I am still unsure of, and question the highly centralized means by which it was made) is a huge change, and could be a hardfork in and of itself. Neverthe less, after minimal testing, the implementation was launched in conjunction with several other changes. The dev and official statements? Basically: We don't know. We'll just try it and see.
• Users have not been given any sort of indicator on their profiles or via official Steemit avenues regarding their RC levels, or the various costs of various on-chain transactions such as voting, following, posting, etc. If you would like to see your current Resource Credit level, head over to steemd.com/@username.
• Now, when I try to onboard people (which I have halted completely, at present) I not only get to explain the three iterations of Steem, but also have to tell them about RCs and "mana." Yay. Not complicated at all.
• No more new account delegations! In order to be able to post once a day, upvote and comment around 40 - 80 times, ~200 SP is needed (correct me if I am mistaken). Now that new users will be given no SP when they open accounts, it seems they will have to pay 200 dollars or so before they can even make a post. I could be wrong here. Somebody please say it ain't so!
• After over two years of being in beta mode, this website still lacks basic, bare bones social media functions like basic notifications, viewable voter lists, and community functions such as groups. This cannot be blamed simply on the oft-used idea that "decentralization is messy." Head over to SCORUM, for example, and see how much of a difference simple notifications make!

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Productivity should not be punished. Proper announcements should be made. Updates brushing off user concerns and saying "success!" are not very helpful.

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So why do I remain skeptically hopeful? Well, what other choice is there? I have shifted focus to other areas of my life as Steemit has ceased becoming a viable source of income, but I cannot leave altogether. I like it here. This whole thing has become a habit for me, and almost a kind of second home. Sad to say that the second home currently seems to be more like a spammy, money-shuffling argument pit, but. I like the lack of regulation here, and I like those people with whom I interact and I follow on a daily basis.

That said. I think it's time for the Dapps to take over, perhaps. But then, what Dapp would want to build on such a volatile chain?

Sigh. What I really wanna do now is buy a shit ton of Steem and see what happens. Wishing doesn't do shit, though, in this case. So, as I have always done, I shall do. Keep on walking. For those that are in my shoes and are not abandoning things here, but need a little breath of fresh air and some positivity, SCORUM is a pretty sweet place to be right now, and I hear Weku is interesting, as well.

I think it is time I scale back on my negative type output for a bit and focus on building and generation. Here's wishing Steem and Steemit the best, as always, even with all the critique.

Thanks for reading.

~KafkA

!

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)

Support Voluntary Japan!

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Steem/SBD: @voluntaryjapan

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