It's been a rocky year for Steem and Steemit. This amazing platform has yet to really take off. After two and a half years there are still only a few thousand really active users. Many have given up for various reasons. Some because they didn't see it as a good investment and others because they were chased away by some nasty people. The Steem price has been on a journey with peaks over $7, but that just wasn't sustainable. My own Steem has been worth almost $100,000 at one point, but it's just a few thousand now. I'm not that upset as I earned it rather than buying it and so it's all profit really and I couldn't have powered down quickly enough to really benefit at the peak. It's bought me a few things anyway. A lot of the fall is down to a general lack of confidence in cryptocurrency.
The Steemit site has seen falling visitor numbers over most of the year. It peaked in the top 1000 around March. I know other front ends are available, but they are all far less used than Steemit.
So who needs to fix this? I think it's obvious that we cannot rely on Steemit Inc. They have issues with their finances and @Ned does not have the full support of the community. We do still need them, but they need to work with other teams to build the core functions that Steem needs.
I think it's up to each of us to do something if we want the picture to be different in another year.
I have to admit that I have bought very little Steem. I got a few dollars worth in the early days using small amounts of other crypto that I had acquired. My family finances don't leave a lot of spare cash for such investments, but today I bought a little using what was left on my Wirex debit card after paying for my Steemfest trip. £15 got me 76 Steem! It would have been just 2 at that previous peak and if the price goes up again I'll be laughing. Spend a little more and you can power up a new account to minnow status.
Tempting as it is to dedicate all your efforts to increasing your own income it is more beneficial to Steem in general to encourage those who are just starting out. If they keep making nothing then they are likely to give up and tell their friends not to bother. Look out for some new accounts who still have a low reputation (under 30) and if they are doing good stuff then give them a vote and a comment. It will mean a lot to them.
Of course some new users will be tempted by the 'dark side'. If they are plagiarising content or making junk posts then let them know this is a bad idea and could get them flagged. Steem should be earned by honest effort.
If you want to take this further then consider joining or supporting efforts such as @SteemFlagRewards who remove rewards from people who are abusing and harming the Steem platform.
If your voting pattern looks like this then you are doing it wrong. Support others and engage with them in comments. If you build a supportive following then you don't need to self vote. I see some big accounts who can guarantee to get many dollars on each post they make, but they still self vote. Why not use that voting power on others?
I see delegation as one of the most powerful features of Steem, but it's sadly not available directly from the Steemit site. That can be fixed by using the SteemPlus extension. If you have thousands of Steem then make it work harder. You can earn by supporting the dreaded bid bots or you can just gift it to minnows so they can enjoy being able to support others. I do a mix of things with mine. I really don't mind missing out on some curation rewards. There are limits to the posts I will see and support, so delegating to others spreads the benefit of my SP. I can always take it back. I just have to wait seven days as that prevents double voting.
I keep saying that Steem should be fun. If you can come back every day and find posts you enjoy then you will want to do it. Look for communities around whatever interests you. That could be running or making bread or knitting. Content on Steem does not have to be about crypto.
You should be aware that the size of your vote goes down as you use it, but recharges all the time. It's like taking water from a pool that is being refilled by a hose. Making 10 votes of 100% uses up 20% of your voting power and that takes 24 hours to restore. So you should aim to get down to around 80%. You can see this on Steem Now and other sites.
The witnesses are the engine that makes Steem run. They get rewarded for this, but how much they can earn depends on how many people vote for them. They also get a say in any changes to how the blockchain works. If you see a witness doing good things then show your support. You have 30 votes, so use them well.
Awareness of Steem and Steemit is almost non-existent. It doesn't get news coverage, unless it's for something bad like Ned sacking 70% of his staff. Explain to people that there is an alternative to Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram that doesn't depend on advertising, doesn't censor and can earn you something. They will need some help to get started, so support them. If you have enough SP you can claim accounts that you can gift to them so they can sign up straight away. Make sure they know just how important it is to keep their keys secure and safe. I'd suggesting delegating them some SP so they can do more when they start out.
If they have no interest in blogging, but they like games then get them into @SteemMonsters. They can use fiat for that and they get a Steem account that they may decide to use.
I've talked about this many times. I see the 'bid bot' culture as toxic to Steem. It makes the Trending page useless as there's nothing there with reall community support. I see people buying a few dollars of votes and it gets them zero engagement. From what I hear you make very little from doing this and you are just enriching some whales. I know some pay those who delegate to them, but this just encourages the buying process. Power up your Steem and use it to vote for others.
We can all do some of these things and they will help. We should support Steemit Inc and other projects, but it's vital to build the community. Make it fun for everyone and word will spread (in a good way).
What else do you think we should be doing?
Steem on!
I'm Steve, the geeky guitarist.
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