I don't think the founders have significantly more insight on this than we do. Speaking as one who worked closely with Dan Larimer on the framework that Steem is based on, I'm pretty sure it's every bit as much a learning experience for the folks at Steemit as for the rest of us.
Here are some of my thoughts, and I'd welcome your opinion. The question of purchasing power is really just a question of market cap. So we need to find ways to drive demand for the STEEM asset. Right now, demand for STEEM is probably coming from two avenues: speculation, and desire for Steem Power and the voting power it carries. The former is not going to keep us afloat long-term, though the latter could definitely do so especially if advertisers and marketers begin powering up to promote their content. This is fine since they would have no advantage over the rest of us except for budget, and if they abuse their power we can just team up and downvote them.
Another driver for demand would be the development of an economy of STEEM -- a marketplace of goods and services being sold for STEEM. Several projects like this are underway, and I think we shouldn't be shy about promoting them and driving them to greater quality, usability, and trustworthiness.
Finally, viewing Steem as a pay-what-you-want (including free, for those who can't or won't pay) content discovery service, rather than a free service, will keep it going. We could encourage those who don't do much posting to buy Steem Power as their contribution to those who are posting the content they enjoy consuming.
That's what I've come up with so far. Comments welcome!
Is there a slack channel for this where we can all collaborate? I agree that backing steem with tangible assets and creating a marketplace will create a healthier economy and more stability. This seems like the logical right direction for the evolution of the platform.
I believe the desire for steem is stemming directly from the absolutely curiosity created amongst an entire class of people who now have the liberty to feel economically empowered for something they previously gave away for free.
I would love to have more context on the framework for steem. Can you share details?
Ah, well I was referring to the Graphene blockchain framework, which is an easily customizable and extensible blockchain project. It provides a solid starting point for making new blockchains, allowing the developers to skip past all the busy work and get straight to what's unique about their project.
The fact that Graphene was completely designed and implemented before Steem was even a figment of anyone's imagination, and that a few developers took Steem from idea to beta in a matter of a few months is, in my admittedly biased opinion, quite a testament to its success. :]
As to a slack channel, the Steem slack is being retired in favor of Steem Rocket Chat. I'm not aware of any channel dedicated to the discussion of long-term sustainability, but one could easily be started.
Let's start a new channel. I believe this is a compelling experiment, just like Bitcoin, that, with the right minds involved, will change the world.
Many of us have an issue with Slack due to its centralised nature and lack of privacy. Steemit.chat is an excellent open source tool that have many possibilities to create further open or closed chat rooms within Steemit. Personally, I'd like to see the chat option integrated in to the platform itself.
Graphene is amazing btw, so undervalued, underutilised and something I'd love you to explore via bitshares.org to give us your opinion.
Loved the photo btw, we need more like that on Steemit.