The plural of fish is fish. When mentioning a group of different breeds of fishes you may use "fishes". Just wanted to clarify that for the ones who are looking for the smallest of reasons to use the free DVs.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let me tell you about the resemblance I find between newsteem and the pond and fishes.
We do know and acknowledge the different tiers us steemians are divided into. We are separated into groups based on the stake, which is basically one's "wealth" or "investment". These tiers also sometimes define how one is treated and how far that said one's reach is. Kinda works like racism or wealth classes. Damn, that took an unnecessary dark turn.
Irrespective of whether one is a whale, orka, dolphin, minnow, redfish, plankton or a blind-spot fan - each and everyone is, in general terms, equally significant. Each one plays a crucial role and is of much importance in making the steem blockchain what it is. We do not need another month of #wearesteem posts and tweets to remind us of how we all influence the ecosystem and blockchain.
The difference between tiers in this "fish-list" has become more apparent and is now more surfaced than before. Not in the generic sense, but in that which people are more eager to know about each tier in more depth. The difference only becomes even more astounding and concentrated the further you are from the rest in fish-list.
I, personally, used to look at the top of the fish-list and find it encouraging and motivating. It gave my steem journey a secondary purpose. But, this is not the case for others. Although, everyone is entitled to their own mindsets and rightfully so.
The Charles Foxtrot hardfork (21) is the sole reason why I see more and more people eager to learn about this fish-list in depth. More steemians are now concerned about their stake, your stake, everyone's stake and how it all makes one elaborate well oiled orchestra.
The general consensus is that curation is more profitable now. Ever since the hf people are now concerned with how and why is it more profitable now. They want to know how they can also reap as much as possible of the profits. Steemians want to learn about curation and using their stake to it's best. I was surprised when I came across users who did not even know about the curation window until recently. People now want to learn about the best time to hit the upvote button, the percentage and how they stack up with others hitting the upvote button. Until recently the more widely known idea was ME BIG GIVE DOLLAR. ME BIG GET DOLLAR BACK. ME CURATION WIN.
This hf was a challenging one, from many angles. I am sure every hf is challenging. But this hf, in particular, was a tad bit more challenging in many aspects. The community was divided, and until now many are not in terms with the changes. The SPS was open-handedly welcomed and was supported openly by the community. Whereas the 50/50 not so much. Steemians even went so far to ask how did the witnesses come to this even after such an open disagreement from the community.
The Charles Foxtrot hf, however, brought so much to light. Including how communication between witnesses and community members could be improved, the role of steemitinc in reversing or rejecting a hf was questioned, the importance of your witness votes and at present how curation works and can be improved is at top of everyone's priority list.
Like I mentioned above, there are still many who do not accept or agree with the hf. We need such an opposing force and I believe an opposing force is fundamental to development. I will go as far as to say that the naysayers are absolutely significant to making changes that prove to be better.
I, for one, hated the idea of 50/50 split. Don't get me wrong, it is working wonders for me. My curation has gone from an average of 0.001$ to 0.003$ a post. Even with most of my SP delegated outside since the last month. That is super impressive!
But at what cost? I still hate the change. For one reason. For the very reason that most opposed it.
The newbies.
In the pond with various fishes I envision an extinction. Newbies or planktons or whatever you call them will dwindle down to nothing in this beautiful pond. Am I wrong? Tell me I am. I know many who opposed the HF felt this way.
I usually asked a question during discussions: How does this affect newcomers? The answer always was a sassy: "They'll become rich!" But how? I never found a convincing answer.
A user who spends much of their early months dragging through broken glass to make a few cents on their posts. if not less, will now have nothing but dust rewards on their posts because of the 50/50. Some new users need atleast a month before they find a footing and make a few scraps on the 75/25 and now with the 50/50 the situation looks ever worse for them. We always talk and want "ONBOARDING AND RETENTION" how is this doing anything for that? I always think of a day where the blocks don't go empty and the inflation is being used to it's best but who is going to help fulfill that with either no one coming in or no one wanting to stay?
How are they going to survive on dust? How are they going to find their will to stay? Will their tiny stake (if any) in their brand new accounts give them the opportunity to find a footing through the small amount of curation they can do? Do they even know anything about curation to make wonders happen with curation?
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