Are Steemians a different breed of human?
In a way I think we are. Some of the best conversations of my life have been with Steemians. I think that is because there is a gathering of like minds here. I don't mean that we agree on everything; we definitely don't. Instead, I'm referring to the fact that most of us seem to be thinkers. We aren't content to simply consume the world around us; we want to question it too; change it, interact.
There's a reason for this, I think. Especially in these early days, it takes something special to be a Steemian. Most people I have told about Steem balk at the concept right away ("sounds like a scam"), and those who are initially receptive seem to lose interest after finding out they would need to use several exchanges to "get any real money out of it." (Hah!)
Even some people who stick around for a while find that it's too much to take and leave. Either they can't handle the price dropping (see ya!), or they can't handle the drama, or feel that something about the platform is "unfair." The result is that the remainder of us tend to have similar views and tendencies, at least about Steem and crypto in general: you will pry it from our cold, dead hands. And I think, in a broad sort of way, there is just something special about Steemians.
So, I am left to wonder... are we a different breed here? Has this platform naturally selected for intelligent, strong-willed individuals? Is that why I find so many of the people I meet here to be the most interesting humans I've ever met?
By Foundry on Pixabay. CC-0.
I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
If my theory is correct, all the Steemians on the platform right now are so cool because only cool people are left. Only those that came here and remain here today have been selected and repeatedly re-selected through all sorts of trials and tribulations; through market drops, chain freezes, and other sorts of metaphorical obstacle courses they face simply by being early adopters. Well then; to me, the eventual widespread popularity of a more user-friendly Steem is a double-edged sword. Eventually, the influx of "normal" people will begin, and the days of Steem being a cute little village of nerds will end.
All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again. In 1993, it happened on Usenet, when America Online decided to open the floodgates by granting every single AOL user access to the newsgroup platform. Now, Usenet denizens were used to this sort of invasion; it happened every September, after all, when the new batch of first-year university students were introduced to this new exciting thing and had absolutely no idea how to conduct themselves. Eventually they'd either figure things out, or they'd decide it wasn't for them and log off, never to be seen again.
But this time, it was different. This time, September never ended. They called it the Eternal September. The "old guard" were completely overrun by the newcomers who, by sheer force of numbers, completely redefined the culture of the place. From the eyes of the early adopters, Usenet was never the same again.
I believe that we must accept our fate.
I will still do what I can to make Steem more welcoming to the less curious; the less technically inclined. I will do what I can to make it safer for people who don't understand cryptography. I will do these things because I am certain that it is the right thing to do. Decentralisation should not be a privilege reserved for nerds.
But... it sure is nice to be here right now, isn't it? 🍋
Posted from my blog with SteemPress.
It's nice to be here, for me, it's hard, like, really hard, but thanks to @suesa and to you, it has been much more nicer er, thank you for that, really <3
I keep surfacing or delurking from time to time because I do miss the place. I'm also struggling to create as much content as I have in the ol' brain at any given moment. Including those last two pieces of the .... well its hard to call it most recent piece. All the same; its a hell of a place and I can surely understand what you mean when you say it brings or attracts the different breed.
Attracting a different breed is a hell of thing for anything on the internet to do, let alone do well these days. It's almost mainlined into peoples veins with how common place online technology and lifestyle is.
People will come, people will go... Some of us will sit up suddenly and remember we're here too. Glad to see you're still working away Lem, not that I had any doubt at all.
Good to see you hanging around as well. Hope you stick around this time :P
That's exactly the way it is. It's a rare breed indeed who has been able to stick it out this far. It takes vision and perseverance to stay the course. In my experience, this is not even for ordinary nerds. I'm done trying to onboard people for now.
Posted using Partiko Android
I have also (temporarily) abandoned onboarding efforts, but maybe for a different reason.
As a developer, my near-term focus is developing tools to make Steem safe for normal people. I am working on some of that in the shadows. Once we make it safe, then we can make it easy. I would not try to do the reverse; I think it is irresponsible to do so.
Normal people don't understand cryptographic keys. Normal people don't understand that their owner key (or the master password that generates it) does not belong in a web browser, much less anywhere on a PC or smartphone. Steemit isn't helping, either; logging in with that password should not even be an option. Steem is a security disaster waiting to happen, and before I start onboarding people again I want to see that change.
I agree. It should be made safe first. But I don't think it's the fault of Steem in itself but the dApps that use it. Any dApp that plans to onboard masses of people needs to make it possible for non-technical people and people of average IQ to handle it safely.
Moving transaction signatures outside of the app code is the first step. One day we will look back with horror at the idea of pasting our keys into a browser to do things. >_<
Well, SteemConnect exists.
SteemConnect is a nice band-aid for now and offloads trust to an arguably "trustworthy" third party, but it is not the correct solution. There are multiple problems with SteemConnect:
There are those who refuse to allow any SteemConnect authorities on their accounts. I am far from that, but I want a real solution enough to work on building it :)
That's right. Those are the problems with it. But how would you go about eliminating the need to paste your active key into a web browser ever? A local storage on the user's computer? But isn't that what browsers have built in? A local storage that requires the users to activate with a password each time they engage in a session of using Steem to reduce the risk of an unauthorized person using the browser?
Not sure if you seen this yet or if its even what you are looking for. I've not looked into it much myself as its a bit out of my own understanding.
https://steemit.com/steem/@yabapmatt/hate-putting-private-keys-into-websites-introducing-steem-keychain
I have actually used Usenet news prior to the 1993 opening of the floodgates. I was freshman at university back then. If only it had been possible to earn by posting back then...
Greetings, @lemony-cricket,
I've bounced here as a result of reading a piece by @tarazkp, enjoyed reading this article, but made a "follow you" decision based on comments here relating to security.
I've been on Steemit since August 2016, and I hope to be on Steemit for "the long haul," i.e. hoping it will long outlive me and preserve what I've written for posterity.
I'll be browsing some of your past articles to see what else you've had to say about making Steemit safe. If you haven't said much about that in your articles, I hope you will in the days to come.
Nice to "meet" you here... ;)
😄😇😄
It is a war of attrition here and as you said, those who have lasted have gone through the trials and evolved to be more resilient on average while the weak have been plucked. I say weak but it is not the case on skill but general attitude. The ones who survive here the best have been the versatile ones on average who are not dependent on one or two niches or feedback loops. Some only are here for price (gone) some are only here for reward (gone) some are only here for their own content sub-group (struggling/gone)... In time they will return as there will be a diverse range of infra and user base to support their needs but, that is not yet.
Why the people here are likely so interesting is that they are more likely more complex personalities that are less bound by their skillset and more unbounded in their interest areas and experience. At the moment, I really enjoy this place and have done for the last almost 2 years. In some way, despite all the disagreements and challenges, these are my type of people.
Sad. :D
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STOPsomeday in the future
Early Steem adopter: You know what? I was using Steem before it was cool.
Late adopter: Yeah, so...?
Early Steem adopter: Forget it, you wouldn't understand.
Late adopter: Another hipster...
I believe so too that whoever is still left here ain't your typical consumer, nerd or whatever – human. People cry here how bad things are, but if/when the day comes when masses start onboarding, we'll look upon these days and the struggles that bonded us with a nostalgia and hope, to get back to the "good ol' times".
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