Why Would I Leave Steem?

One of the reasons why I have stayed engaging on Steem and also enjoy my time here is the fact that it allows me to gain different perspectives given its global reach. Recently, a post by one of my favorite content creators @nonsowrites talked about what would actually make him leave the community. It was pretty thoughtful and from a totally different perspective given not only our geographical differences but also our our differences in age. Since then, I have been thinking what would, if anything, make me leave the community I have grown passionate about.

It may seem like a simple question, but the fact of spending so much time here and investing resources into building my account makes it more difficult to answer that I would’ve thought. I have always said that I am a horrible trader as emotion often betray me and my investments. That is why I have made Steem into a long-term investment as I believe in the technology and community very much. However, it got me thinking whether this investment too has grown too emotional for me to have a clear mind of its future. Therefore, I wanted to sit and really think about what factors would need to happen for me to really think about shutting off the lights of my time and engagement here in the ecosystem.

One of the first things that immediately came to mind is what many of us probably look at first when trying to make this type of decision decision, price. Price has definitely been the main driver of engagement and net user additions over the last 2 to 3 years in the ecosystem. We saw how the bullish prices in 2017 led to a rapid period of growth until the bear market started in 2018. Due to the prolonged decline in prices, we saw our engagement numbers drop from the hundreds of thousands to barely achieving 40,000 a day at the lows. Despite a bounce we saw this year with the rest of the market, engagement and growth did not come at the same pace as the last rise; however, that was expected as the bounce wasn’t as strong as the prior one was.

Given my long term view of the protocol and the potential of its development, price really does not concern me at this point. I have not invested resources in the expectation of a fast return nor have I made the investment to depend on any time soon. Of course, it would be my dream to do so at some point in time in the future; but not right now. Therefore, the only reason price would be a decision influencer for me is if it would no longer allow me to grow or build my account. However, one Steem is always equal to one Steem and as long as the community remains engaging, there is always a path to earn and build our accounts. I think that price will never be a factor in making me leave.

However, this brings up an important consideration which is the community and engagement. The time I spend engaging and reading through my feed is really interesting for many factors as it helps me gauge the ecosystem and its opportunities. We have already seen that despite a depressed period of activity where plenty of uncertainty was apparent, a core community arose to carry the ecosystem forward. I feel the community has influenced even the largest developer and stakeholder, Steemit to find ways to improve sustainability as now the costs to run the blockchain continue to fall and make it more decentralized and sustainable. Therefore, it could be said that despite more pressure on engagement, Steem will still survive. Having a place to engage no matter the adversity and challenges is another factor that keeps me coming back but without it, there will be little reason to continue. That is why I believe that the community is Steem’s most valuable asset.

I would be lying to say that one of the considerations that has me coming back even days when my time is very limited is Steem Monsters or Splinterlands. The way the developers have ensured players remain engage, find ways to earn Steem, and enjoy their experiences is an amazing way to keep me coming back. If that were to change materially or if the gameplay would become unbalanced or boring, I would also have a higher chance of leaving the ecosystem. However, the development team continues to push the limits of the protocol and demonstrate its capabilities and flexibility for all Steemians and drives new users as well.

Even as I write this, I cannot visualize a day without engaging some way or form here with the Steem community. I have not even considered the additional items around the ecosystem like delegation passive income, projects like @actifit among many other promising projects that continue to be highlighted by the community like Steem Engine and Tribes. While I may have made an awful attempt to answer the question of what may make me leave the ecosystem, I am happy that I still feel this way despite the challenges that continue to overhang the community. Let’s keep Steeming!