Watching the shortfalls of Steemit has given me ideas for how to do it differently.

I think Steemit has done something innovative and new. The more I look at it, the more I see some really big issues that don't seem to easy to overcome. It's made me question the idea of decentralization and where it is appropriate. People need leadership. Flat power structures may be egalitarian, but they are chaotic. There are trade offs for freedom. Freedom requ
ires eternal vigilance, but the tools for vigilance are cumbersome atm.

A different system might be to reward good leaders, as well as good content. We have content makers and content promoters (curators) but we don't have a good system of vigilance.

Reddit is the example that comes to mind as a hierarchy to emulate. Forums of interests are established and moderators are put in place. This brings order to the forum. People are then able to subscribe to a forum of interest, that is inhabited by the content creators of their liking. The moderators have the power to regulate behaviour within that forum of interest.

I kind of like the idea of having moderated forums, but these forums are able to drawn in content from a pool, which attracts people to that forum. The forum with the combination of best content and best management would attract the most readers and commentators.

Somehow a blockchain social media needs to find a balance of reward between curation, content and self-administration. I don't see the self-administration side of Steemit as being effective. The content is too vast for any individual or small group to administer alone. It is an enormous undertaking to sort the wheat from the chaff. A reader will consume content regardless of the legitimacy of that content. An administration reward seems to me to be a way forward. An administrator creates a forum, readers subscribe to forums, forums draw from a pool of content, and attracts readers based on the effectiveness of their work. Readers reward both the administrators and content creators through upvoting. Flagging becomes a message to the administrator that action is required in his area of concern. The administrators efficiency in dealing with flagged content will again determine the success of that forum. The creation of forum spaces is open to everyone. Everyone can be an administrator of a forum space with full moderation rights, curator (collecting content together in one place and promoting it) and content producer if they like.

I'm probably late to the party and this idea might have been discussed already. How would I know? I can't find anything with any level of certainty atm. Good content comes and goes, but I have no idea how to find it again.

Some moderation powers of interest could be pinning of articles, featured articles, the ability to remove unwanted content from view. There are people who inhabit this Steemit ecosystem who would relish the opportunity to do behind the scenes stuff where they can contribute their diligence and conscientiousness in ways that may not be produce content, but instead creates community. They have energy, and that expenditure of energy can benefit the community and should be rewarded.

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I'd also add that I think comment rewards should be significant too. Then the reader is rewarded as well for their engagement. That might be just my perspective as an avid reader of comments and and a regular commentator.