A few updates were posted on the 
In their focus, as expected, is streamlining the signup process, but from what I see it will not be an automated process (at least not soon), but still a manual approval, except more efficient.
They also have been working alongside the blockchain team to update the database management system to one (RocksDB) which works better with fast disks (an thus lower the need for high amounts of memory for different types of active nodes).
An interesting announcement is that Steemit implemented a system which will remove most of the delegation from inactive accounts (over 90 days), to restore it to full 15 SP within an hour of re-becoming active.
At the same time, Steemit will remove their initial delegation from abusive accounts which break the ToS. Keep in mind, this only refers to Steemit delegation, if the account was created via Steemit interface, and it is not a block of some kind. If such an account manages to get enough SP to have the minimum bandwidth to operate, it will continue to do that as he or she wants, after Steemit removed their delegation.
But nonetheless, this is a good step in the direction of diminishing abuse.
Here's the full post.
Yes, minnows have a hard time being discovered on Steemit. In some cases, they can get lucky a few times, but almost always growth is a process which takes a lot of time.
Understanding this struggle, a few communities and projects have been developed over time to help minnows. One of the oldest and most respected ones is the Minnow Support Project, created by 
I've just found out it's their one year birthday today. Given that Steem itself has only two years, one year for a minnow support project is a very respectable age.
It is also a free to join service, but its support to minnows helps the entire community grow, by distributing support to newcomers / content creators who haven't been discovered yet.
So, happy birthday Minnow Support Project!
Qurator is another service which can help you grow. A paid one this time, and you need to be approved for it. You can find details here.
But here, I'd like to add a tip for those who are already using the service. I only found about it yesterday.
As you know, steemit nodes are sluggish every once in a while, which create issues for apps / services depending on them.
One of them is 
You can fix that if you write !refresh yourusername in the qurator-assistant channel, on qurator's discord server.
It worked like a charm for me, but if I knew it one day before, I wouldn't have missed the upvote for my previous post. That's why I thought you should know, in case you are a qurator member.
