Hey guys!
I am deviating a bit from my normal posts as of late to bring attention to an AWESOME post by my friend 
Visit it here:
He has basically sleuthed the initial reason as to why Steemit has been declining in visitors/interest/value and it doesn't correlate with the Bitcoin drop!
Basically, he found that right around the time Steem started to really drop off, Google also released a new SEO algorithm which prioritizes trustworthy and interesting content. This would infer that Steemit is not very trustworthy with kind of subpar content which is why, as he explains, Steemit was "punished".
Listen, I'm with anyone who wants to improve on Steemit's content. Our trending page is a dumpster fire, and don't even get me started on how I feel about bots and shitposting and the like. It's out of control and the powers that be are doing very little to stop it.
That being said....
There is a lot of informative, fabulous content on Steemit as well. It is a plethora of information about the blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, Steemit itself and anything else tech-related you can imagine.
What it also contains a lot of is forlorn and frustrated YouTube ex's that have written/video'd scathing commentary about YouTube and its controversial and controlling policies.
The beginning of 2018 was also a time when a few BIG YouTube names were fresh on the Steemit scene and ready to throw YouTube under the bus.
Let's see now...who owns YouTube again? Oh yeah...GOOGLE.
Some of the best content on Steemit is also written by Libertarian authors who can see right through Google's "fair" policies and have criticized them in full, proudly and openly on Steemit.
It wouldn't exactly be in Google's best interest to prioritize content written by authors that criticize their very company, or promote a website that allows people to leave one of their cherished websites by the thousands in order to come to a freer, better place where they can still earn money.
Why is this so important?
Well, not only has this helped keep the price of Steem in the toilet, but it has also slowed Steemit's growth to a crawl, and could continue to do so in the future.
More importantly though, people trust the internet. They have turned to the internet because they can no longer trust the MSM, newspapers, magazines or the radio. The internet has freed many minds, and continues to be a place where people gather their opinions and information. This kind of politicized SEO is poison to democracy and freedom and something we should be VERY leery of.
Just my 2 cents. Let me know what you think below.
Stay free, friends.
