Well, thanks for the effort you put into this @rychard . But here's the thing, disgruntled or not. I've had a dozen people try to tell me and others about the positive move this hard fork has been, and that without this move, Steem or at least steemit was doomed to fall to nothing, which would essentially be the end of the game. So that's really the bottom line, that's what we are talking about here - the very survival of this platform and the currency it runs on.

Aside from all the figures the graphs and positivity - or wishful thinking as some view it - we have to remember the mission statement of steemit at it's inception, which was:

'a social blockchain that grows communities and makes revenue streams possible for users by rewarding them for sharing content'.

And so I think it is fair to say, and should be admitted, that this is no longer the mission of this platform, for whatever reason, at least with respect to the vast majority of users. Steemit has changed for the sake of it's own survival - I'm not saying that's a bad thing, or carried out with negative intentions, but it can't be passed off as anything else. It's not so much a strategic move to improve the platform, it's a straw clutching exercise because of the dire situation Steemit has found itself in - which is that of failure.

All the sureties in the world wont change the unpredictable nature of both the platform the currency and the decisions pertinent to the hard fork. It could indeed save the currency/platform. Equally, it could kill it stone dead. Yes, I can assure you that may well happen, and we will never know if it would have survived without the hard fork.

It's no longer about good content or bad content, it's not for the majority of users about content at all - it's about survival. Steemit will have to change what it is to survive, and if that means a platform full of whales, then so be it. If it becomes no more than a currency exchange platform that's fine. Only time will tell of course, but I for one am a bit fed up with people suggesting this is a positive well considered move on behalf of its user base. It's not that, and there is no way to dress it up as that. You cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear so to speak.

Don't misunderstand me, it is what it is, and it must become what it must become to survive. But enough of the pretence. I'm of course a minnow of the lowest order, but if I need to get off this platform to make way for whales, then I'm fine with that. I'm not in the currency market, and I have no money to invest and even if I did, circumstances would dictate that Steem would be one of the last places I would choose to put my hard earned cash just now.

So anyway, the very best of luck to the Steemit platform and its currency and it's users. I will of course keep following its progress, but it would be nice to see a little honesty and plain speaking in amongst all the nonsense. And by nonsense I'm not referring to your blog here @rychard, your input was most informative. I am of course generalising.