There were such epic replies that I couldn't get through them all to see if what I'm about to say has already been covered but these are problems I see as someone that wants to love the platform but still is hesitant to use it:
Sign ups often take too long & it instantly dampens enthusiasm & momentum & it lowers my confidence that the platform could handle a large surge when it becomes mainstream & there are a few big people it'd be cool to try to pull. (Witness incentives as a solution?)
Creative types may not necessarily want to learn HTML & formatting, so removing that initial block would help a lot. An elegant but simple WYSIWYG editor with intuitive file uploading would be great.
There's no alert system for favorite posters/topics & a lot gets missed unless I also follow people on Twitter/ IG & YouTube. Frankly I wish it wasn't so much work to want to fall in love with the platform & remember the writers I enjoy.
It'd be intriguing to me if Steemit worked with Instagram & other social media, similar to how I can post to Twitter, FB or Tumblr from the app. It'd be great if they had an incentive to build on our blockchain eventually instead of them starting their own. (Whether it's multi-publishing from here to there, or the other way around)
It'd be nice if there was some incentive to seek & invite talent to the site & a motivation beyond the initial financial one for them to stay here. Even if it's a different type of publishing with an imbedded contract that provided some form of protection of IP, residuals & derivatives. It's a tough sell to give it all away. We're being given the platform to create our own media empires & yet are lacking basic tools to do that.
I don't believe it's a death spiral, I think we're all just here ahead of the curve...I hope. In my head it's similar to that quiet time when seeds are hibernating under the snow, waiting to burst forth when the conditions are right. There's still life, but it's sleeping.