Well, Now I Feel Foolish
Much of my excitement about Steemit over the last 9 or so months has been in many ways tied to Dan Larimer's genius. He invented things here like the savings and the recovery accounts that no other public/private key system had. It's beautiful. Every time he created a pull request or an issue ticket, I'd be impressed with his thoroughness, vision, and intelligence.
I agree with so much of Dan's philosophy. I cheered on his Evil Plan for Cryptocurrency World Domination. I saw Steemit as a very real solution against the monopoly powers of government.
And now that's all gone. Dan has resigned.
I'm sad. I'm a little angry. I feel like a fool. I trusted in this platform and believed in it's long-term goals in great part because I thought Dan would be doing really great things here. Things beyond just technology, but creating a platform for practical freedom.
Now I don't know what to think. I've been one of the biggest cheerleaders for Steemit. Losing a co-founder abruptly like this... that's not good. Just recently I was making an argument for Steemit being around in 10 years. I hope I don't have to eat those words.
For all those haters and doubters who told me in chat I shouldn't trust Dan or that Steemit is a joke and doesn't have a future... Well, I may have to hear your I told you so depending on how this all pans out.
I'm going to bed.
I was shocked when Dan left BitShares to start Steem. All of us at bitshares felt lost for a while, but we have kept plugging along. The core code that Dan created and left for us works fine and tomorrow is a stress test on the test net to see just how many tps (transactions per second) the blockchain is really capable of (far more than any other crypto that I know of for sure - but just how much more?)
And we will have state of the art anonymity very soon with the release to test net of STEALTH technology by BitShares Munich in 3 weeks.
Steemit, after a short period of bewilderment, will go on to do great things too!
Just to add, I think it is actually a necessity that the founders or creators must leave and allow their influence to become assimilated by everyone who shares a common vision. A top down authoritative hierarchy is no different from the very governance models we seek to provide better alternatives to. Even though it is sometimes hard to stomach these moments of big impact, they are difficult necessities which ensure that the future of this project go beyond the vision of just one man or a few people.
I think that you have been "around the block" enough times to see things in a very long time frame and probably know this is going to work out fine in the long run. Steemit like bitshares has a very strong group of people with the right skillsets and vision to really disrupt, and I believe Dan and even Ned always intended to steer the ship enough to pick up the right people to make this an eventuality. But eventually they must let the beast make it's own decisions and take it's own turns.
One problem was that not all of the large whales did share a common vision. Some did not come out of the long joint bitshares history but were miners of whatever new chain caught their fancy and was profitable to mine. Thus they had the knowledge and skills and technology to get in very early and mine a lot of steem and became big whales - although they shared none of Dan's (and our) philosophical leanings. There has always been a clash of cultures at the core.
I guess, it is very difficult to truly share a vision that does not split into sub branches which themselves become stems for new visions. But one interesting thing is that as more participants get involved, the system becomes more complex, and just like entropy in nature, it will tend towards a state of equilibrium.
Wow, very impressed...
It's more than just that though. There seems to have been a conflict of vision within Steemit Inc itself. We can see that with @dan's pull request to make Steem fully open source which was rejected by @ned and @sneak.
For Dan, principle comes first. For others, business and profit come first. I am not saying that they are wrong. They have just decided that without profits your principles will starve to death anyway. Both sides have a point, but I lean towards Dan's vision.
Very brave to admit your vision @onceuponatime
As @sweetsssj mentioned: "I guess, it is very difficult to truly share a vision that does not split into sub branches which themselves become stems for new visions. But one interesting thing is that as more participants get involved, the system becomes more complex, and just like entropy in nature, it will tend towards a state of equilibrium."
Steemit will continue to grow as we all learn...
Frank
I think there's a ground in which principles can come later into the picture..
You have spoken wisely.
Well said. I thought I understood that and was okay with it because over the long term they would take their profits and leave with Dan pushing his vision forward. Now I'm not sure what the vision for steemit is.
I can see that!
As the times has changed, so will the platform. Let's keep Steeming On!
Yeah, this has been a real challenge for Steem. One more reason to dislike proof of work as a block production mechanism for blockchains.
The hierarchies I don't like use violence. Dan understood that and had a vision for not only market drive not systems, but also universal basic income approaches, something often unpopular within his own anarcho capitalist community. His vision and technical abilities will be greatly missed, I fear.
In agreement @sweetsssj - trying to remain positive and see rising opportunities now - i might be wrong but it is now a chance to change and implement things that were missed -like marketing and communications. Let us support our Captain!
Well said @sweetsssj !👍
This is REALLY happening in REAL time...
Amazing what few can learn from ALL of this!
I thought about this as I had trouble sleeping last night. Is Dan abandoning Steemit to go back to bitshares? Also... the price of bitshares being below a penny does not inspire confidence. I bought STEEM at $1 and will probably never see a financial return on that investment. It's sad.
I appreciate your optimism though. I really do. Thank you.
There is no way for Dan to "go back to bitshares" as any kind of CEO or "leader". There is no business structure like there is with Steemit Inc. But the bitshares blockchain could hire him as a "worker" to do specific projects such as develop a bond market on the bitshares DEX should he apply to do so and should enough stake-weighted votes support that.
Also, I wouldn't write off your STEEM investment just yet. But if you do decide to sell your STEEM, I have been buying OPEN.STEEM on the bitshares DEX and then moving them to my steemit wallet and powering up :-)
Thanks for the clarification. That's what I love about decentralized systems. No Rulers. :)
I haven't written off my investment, I'm just a little sad about it. I think long term it could be something amazing, but I also wish I had been selling on the way down so I could buy back much cheaper because I do believe in the technology itself.
"thirds rule strategy"
you can now google it
"Is Dan abandoning Steemit to go back to bitshares?"
To be honest @lukestokes this was my initial thought.
Yesssir .. we must go on and so we shall.
From a poem .. "The Lost Leader" by Robert Browning
Life’s night begins: let him never come back to us!
There would be doubt, hesitation, and pain,
Forced praise on our part—the glimmer of twilight,
Never glad confident morning again!
Best fight on well, for we taught him—strike gallantly,
Aim at our heart ere we pierce through his own.
Then let him receive the new knowledge and wait us,
Pardoned in heaven, the first by the throne!
Will this feature be usable on steem? Any limitation?
I'm not sure about the necessity of anonymity in Steem. We have all become a little bit sensitive to attaching wealth and value to individuals because of Darwinian philosophy, but I feel that a future such as the one Dan describes with free markets securing life liberty and property will supplant the need for anonymity.
It's necessary for buisnesses. Merchants don't want their bottom line to be public. If we want to build an economy with commerce,etc..anonymity is important.
Even as an individual, privacy is a must without it you can be subject to blackmail, targeted theft,ransom,tax,etc..
Some businesses are having great success with an open books model. Technology made us human and changes us (see a TED talk about how predigesting our food via cooking may have formed our brains). Many problems in the world today revolve around lack of trust, identity system seems, and reputation. I was hopeful Dan would be innovating in those areas here.
I agree with Luke on that point as well. Research the importance of transparency in business because it's becoming more and more prevalent and you'll be surprised to see that what amounts to the belief of it being necessary is counter to reality.
As for the individual there is a distinct line between secrecy and privacy. Privacy is inherent in our nature for a lot of things, but secrecy is abhorred in society more and more and especially in healthy interpersonal relationships for individuals.
I'm not a techie. I don't know. But both chains were graphene based to begin with, though I think that the code has diverged somewhat. So it might take some doing to merge STEALTH into steem. But I'm just guessing. Best to ask the BitShares Munich guys.
It has been discussed but the implementation is waiting Fabric to be completed first, I think. After the backend architecture is updated it's much more easier to implement things like privacy features.
(brings popcorn and shares)
Sorry it took me so long, I'm here catching up! Lucky to have a few of you on my "following list".
i pretty much felt something is wrong up here, hence i started power down 3 weeks ago for the first time
Not to persuade you or anyone else...
But appreciate your contribution...
Just started here at the end of Jan, and have been buying in 1/3rds
Steemit is not a one man cult of personality. It will take a lot more than one well known person leaving to sink her. Steemit is still better than Facebook and Bitcoin put together. If we can maintain our calm and keep going, there is no reason at all that Steemit can't still succeed. I'm hardly the normal voice of encouragement, but this is not over yet, not by a long shot.
Indeed, but @ned has been the face of Steem more than anyone else anyway. I dunno if Dan is like me with projects - sometimes you just go 'ok, this is a mess, I'm starting over again'. He'll go on to do something else new, and hopefully there is enough of a functioning governance system in Steem that this in fact will be remembered as the moment that the stops were all pulled out and the music started to really play!
I don't worry about it 'going to zero'. It's not going to go to zero. There's too much people with too much stake in it. It just may take a little attrition to clear the executive gridlock that (in my opinion) has been plaguing Steem for the last few months.
The poor implementation of 'the experiment' has caused more damage than anything else lately. I wish Dan well, and hope it doesn't discourage too many people, but it looks like he accomplished what he could with all of us unruly monkeys. I wasn't hoping for a philosopher king, and I'm happy that he has enough sense to not try to be one. Steem on! De l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!
The ship won't sink, but the freedom-flag it was flying has been burned (months ago):
How steemit became useless to freedom-fighters
It became a ship that flies nothing but a big dollar sign flag.
Freedom-fighters and whistle-blowers were forced out when #steemit decided to impose mobile number disclosure for account creation. Assuming @dan not the same person as @dantheman, I hope @dan goes on to create a freedom-respecting blockchain blogging tool (we need one).
As far as I know, they are one and the same.
The dollar sign flag was a mistake. This is still in beta. People are moving in and setting up their livelihoods around an untested product that still catches on fire, and spits out hordes of gremlins occasionally. This should be seen as a MMORPG with real consequences for the individual's investment. We're nowhere near a sustainably growing configuration. We're still at the point of a few zero sum gamers letting all the investment of time and money out, so they can take it home with them, and leave all of the rest wondering what happened. The money-stake people need to respect the time-quality investment stake people or this is never going to work. If there is a way to incentivize this, Steemit might make it to next month.
I'm HERE!
Sorry it took me so long...
Que?
Another Steemian steps up to the plate!
I hate to say it, but I told you so. I guess the argument you talk about in your post was the one we had the other day? Well, there were signs. The lack of leadership, the lack of communication, chaos masked as decentralization, all of these signs were there...
It was so obvious there was a crisis going on. It's still early to say what will happen or if @dan will come back. But at least now we know the crisis is real.
I'm sorry for @dan leaving the team and I hope they will find ways to reconcile somehow. Will continue to keep an eye on this platform.
Lol if you hate to say it you wouldn't
I may hate to say things for various reasons, but that doesn't prevents me from saying them, if there's a higher purpose. For instance, I may hate to say something because I know it will hurt the feelings of the other person, but by saying that I may communicate something extremely important for that person as well.
Such as "hey man, I was right, you were wrong...mmmm ego rub" lol
Jk jk. But come on. Everybody loves to say I don't you so. It's the only consolation for being a realist.
where do you see that in my comments?
More Drama than any Soap;D~
"The Buck stops , somewhere over there," as a famous wit once said.
I was mostly thinking of conversations in steem chat's price channel over the last 9 months. Thankfully I haven't been there's in a while.
But yes, your voice is included. Your I told you so received. I hope your feeling of justification is a great one.
Traders are realists, or they're broke. The broke ones aren't traders any more.
Speaking as a realist, I think your post here was overly pessimistic, though to be fair it was quite some hours ago and I suspect your perspective has evolved somewhat. Steem has a future. It isn't clear that future isn't something that promotes Dan's vision, whether Dan is personally an active part of it or not. He created the DNA and birthed the baby, and a part of him will always live inside Steem. The baby now just needs to grow up.
Yes, I originally posted this right after I heard the news and right before going to bed. It was my own way to process the emotions involved. I never imagined it would trend as it has. I decided against editing it because it's an accurate representation of what I was feeling at the time.
I've since used some humor to work through my thoughts and gave a more practical suggestion about voting on witnesses.
I'm very thankful for what Dan has created and his DNA here. I am hopeful the vision Dan had is shared by those who run the Steemit ship now also.
Couldn't have said it any better.
Dan will always be a part of Steemit, no matter what.
Not at all, I wasn't looking for justification, but merely for solutions to keep this thing going on, somehow. Like I told you, still being here and voicing my concerns means I care.
Dan's resignation is a big change and its potential impact is significant. On the other side, it may clear the air and something useful may happen out of this, eventually.
Dan's vision and involvement gave me hope for the future becuase, in many ways, I think he's technically smarter than most people. Unfortunately, people who work with code aren't always great with working alongside other people. They also tend to want control. Maybe too much of it.
Thanks for being gracious with your I told you so.
We are going to see who is REALLY on board with Steemit, STEEM, SP, SBD
Steem on,
Frank
I'm going to call this a day and hope that the sun also rises tomorrow.
Ironic... I've been telling people of the promise of Steemit, and my wife finally came onboard today... of all days. The Universe has a sense of humor, to be sure!
I take full responsibility. I've been telling the steamed clams here that for the last hour.
"Isn't it pretty to think so." --Hemmingway, The Sun Also Rises.
Bummer timing. At least the platform's technology's today is the same as it was yesterday. Everything else, it seems, has changed.
(welcomes @denmarkguy wife)
Welcome to a GREAT social community and just have FUN!
After every storm the sun out.
Hopefully it will be good again ...
Those words sound like they are coming out of my mouth. This is terrible and I feel uneasy just thinking about what has happened in the last two week here. But thanks for this post, now I know there are others who feel like me.
If we were at a bar, we could clank our beers together and say cheers followed by bottoms up.
(cheers)
Hmm. There's that saying "When it rains it pours". Thankfully I'm no sugar cube and neither is this platform. I still believe in Steemit's potential and I think there are enough smart and talented people who can fill the gap. Granted, this couldn't have come at a worse time, especially with a platform experiment that's torn our poor community asunder. I am not deflated at all, but I am exhausted. So I'm going to rest my eyes and see what I see tomorrow and the next day...
I love your optimism in a storm. :)
This may be seen as a new beginning. Let's be positive!
Beginning to what is of course another question, that only the future will answer. I still have hopes for the future of the platform!
I'm so glad someone's positive. Thank you for bringng your optimism.
This is what we need the most, IMO, for a month or so.
Dan just posted regarding the Steemit license. Worth a read.
Edit: But then he deleted it. The original is here.