I joined Steemit in July 2016, like you. I've been here to witness the ups- and downs. I had no prior crypto- or blockchain experience before I joined and I had defintiely never owned a cryptocurrency.
3 years later, I'm still here, and I still consider myself to have slim to none knowledge, even though I have more knowledge now than before. The only thing I wish, is that the communication would've been better.
Whenever there are new updates and incoming changes, the information is always laid out in such a professional and "tech"-type of way that the average user doesn't understand what happens.
The average users on STEEM are not crypto or blockchain experts... And they will never be. The average users are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram users that sees an opportunity to make money for the same content they share on other platforms.
If the communication would've been better from the start, and if STINC would have realized what type of audience they have, I'm sure we would have reached new heights in a faster pace.