Hey, @c0ff33a.
Yeah, I tend to agree with all of that. I'm waiting on some others who answered to see if they can give me either some evidence of or some kind of argument for the on platform shenanigans making a difference, but until then, I think these are the things that the typical passive investor is looking at.
I'm no expert, those were the points that stood out to me as the important aspects people will look at. If I am honest the Steem Blockchain has so many massive benefits - but I don't think even half of them are promoted. One big issue I see is promoting "Your voice has value" which I am sure is why so many people join and then leave very quickly - because unless they are super lucky nobody is going to join and then get any sort of post reward on their first 10 plus posts. They are given the expectation of rewards but the reality is different. Instead the focus should be on the fact they can create a blog for free that is backed by a decentralised Blockchain and therefore whatever work they put in will always be there - how many people spent days creating content on free blogs where the server shut down and everything they had worked on went with it. The Steem Blockchain has 150 Witnesses with copies of the Blocklog - that data will be around forever. I have two Witness nodes - all I need is a Master Node and I could run the blockchain on my own if needed.
Hey, @c0ffeea.
Agreeing again with both main points—the idea of getting paid to post is pretty central to what STEEM offers, but it needs to be tempered so that expectations aren't so high. We need a way to educate folks in a decentralized fashion (however that works), but I don't think we're completely there yet.
I like the idea of their always being a copy of our stuff available as long as there are witnesses.
I'm of the mind as we get into Communities and maybe SMTs that each individual group will need to start tailoring the marketing message to those who would be interested in that niche, something that appeals to those folks, because STEEM can probably deliver it easier than a one-sized fits all "get rich quick!" type of message, that has already proven to bring people in, but as equally proven to be lousy at retention for the very reasons you cite.