I tried to stay away...I really did! I knew after Harkfork 20 there would oodles of posts concerning it. From the positive to the negative and everything in between.
First a few disclaimers...
1. I'm an idiot! I'm really not that smart when it comes to anything techy. And that includes the blockchain and everything that makes it tick. It could be the reason why I tend to use Apple products almost exclusively. I can't mess them up! So my opinion is from the un-technical side of things. Pardon my ignorance.
2. I mentioned Apple because I love simple! I believe everything in business and in life gets appreciated more and adopted more when it's easy to understand. But more importantly, easier to USE! Remember for the past 9 months I've been talking about how important usability is for any blockchain technology ...This still holds true! If we want to get more people USING crypto and blockchain...We must make it easy to adopt from a users standpoint.
So with that in mind...Let's get into it...
I was reading @josephsavage 's post today about his opinion of the hardfork 20 situation and he made a comment that scared me;
"Steemit, Inc cares about scale, not as much about the existing users...."
It's not that I think Ned and company are sitting around saying 'screw the current Steemians', far from it. I feel they have the best interest of this blockchain in mind and at the end of the day I believe that hardfork 20 is a step in the right direction. But something is missing from the equation and it has since I joined STEEM.
Keeping things simple for the everyday user!
I read in another post earlier today about the addition of potential Resource Credits being a tradable asset or open market...WHAT?????
Remember...I'm speaking for the average Joe and Jill that just wanna use this stuff!
I had a heck of a time when I first got started trying to figure out the difference between STEEM, Steem Power and SBD's...And now there is the thought of adding a new token to the mix??? And what the heck are resource credits??? (Just kidding I figured that much out because of the LACK of them right now lol)
I'm not saying that this is happening, but it showed me how we seem to forget about the everyday person that wants to USE this blockchain and all it's dApps. We don't care about how the stuff works, and that's our fault I guess for not being that techy...But we support it. We invest in it. And we wave it's flag wherever we go.
I know this has been a challenge for so many, I've been o.k. with what I've read and tried to follow along as much as I could when it came to the technical side of things...But we cannot forget THE PEOPLE if we want this to grow and get adopted.
And the people want simple!
They will use it, adopt it , invest in it...But it can't require a PHd in computer science to understand it.
This is the pioneering stage and again, I understand that...I just hope we never forget what will make this place and what HAS made this place so special...And that's the people USING it!
Every day!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://plus1daily.com/the-obligatory-hardfork-20-post/
Yes, it's a balancing act for sure, but I tend to opt for the long-term goals and agree the 'current' users may suffer a bit for they will have an even better future afterwards... All in all after reading tons of posts, Discord discussions and just letting all the excitement sink in a bit I've learned two things: 1) we need an honest testnet that's open to all users to 'screw around on' so we can find as many things that go wrong as possible before the actual HF happens, and 2) we need to have some form of 'quick' communication from Steemit INC, not just a post every 2 days, but a quick 2-line update every hour in crises like these.
I'd have slept better because of it ;-)
ya they should have much more engagement from the leadership there. actually be a product of their product. would love to see much more communication on their end.
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I agree with you. Was really frustrated after the launch of HF20. And I didn't know if I keep doing Steemit, but then I got a delegation from the German community. That showed me that there are people who want the 'normal people' ( like newbies) to stick to it.
We talked a lot with some witnesses and they all know that the blockchain lives from the participating people. Their interest is to engage and bring more and more people to it.
In my opinion, it will have to get some changes in the future. One should be the redesign of steemit.com as @gadrian said.
I do not know if there is a competition for Facebook and co. but if you could improve the handling for newbies a big step would have been taken.
I do not know if it would be desirable to be as big as Facebook, because Facebook has always deterred me. Here at Steemit I feel comfortable and learn from day to day.
So the goal should be for all changes to maintain the qualitative standard. Then I will continue to be a convinced member.
I hope I have expressed my thoughts understandably, despite my bad English.
Wish you a happy steeming and keep doing your good work here.
Congratulations for the delegation, @ikarus56!
I also don't think Steemit or other DApps will stand a chance if they try to be a next Facebook or any other top centralized so-called free social media website. They need to find their own niches, which are better put into light and valued here on Steem.
About Steemit website, it's not only an issue of design, it is an issue of programming too, which from what I understood is a bad choice for what the site has become, but was a good choice for what was initially intended to do with it.
Steemit website would need to be re-created from scratch, in most part, in my opinion.
Thanks. I agree with you. I have limited programming skills and cannot say much about it.
yeah man. congrats on the delegation :)
huge news!!! and very well deserved.
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So true man! I have the feeling the core team doesn't really care what the common people think. It is all about money making. As long as enough people are out there who are willing to use bots and other tricks, every thing is fine, I guess. I came to steemit to share my ideas and have fun and was happy to see that you get some rewards for it. But the whole thing became more and more complicate with the result that I throw in the towel. Now I do what I wanted to do in the first place and don't care much about rewards. Let's have some fun!
ahhh the fun word! i agree completely. when you make things too difficult it becomes a chore and the fun is taken away.
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Yes, I've heard that before and I think that is slightly incorrect. They treat existing users as early adopters. After scaling up, they'll treat everyone as late adopters and shift their priorities (hopefully, lol).
But I understand the need of a much softer approach for people expecting it at this time.
I think Steemit has reached a limitation here, because they really need to push forward with development.
That doesn't mean others can't pick up and soften up the experiences in their DApps. It's true, when blockchain related changes happen it is likely we will have some disruptions. Expect them!
Did you hear bitcoin had a bug after all these years that facilitated an attack on the blockchain, and the same bug could have been used to create more bitcoin beyond the 21 million limit? The bug was unexploited before it was fixed, but it happens with blockchains.
To answer a previous comment, I doubt steemit.com will be dropped as a domain. It is still the main point of entrance for organic traffic toward the Steem blockchain.
I do think however that THIS website as we know it now will have its days numbered after SMTs are released. From what I understood, it cannot be upgraded to look professional, because it was only meant as a test website so it was made quickly and not the best choices were taken for a production site of its usage and visibility now.
to be honest. i welcome to change and competition to steemit. can’t wait to see what people create in the future as steempeak is a great example of what can be done. it’s exciting.
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Yup, couldn't agree more! I started using SteemPeak about two weeks ago as the main Dapp to post. It's awesome!
ya i’m still using steemit. but wanna start going over to that more.
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Great example of Apple that you bought up. But don't forget Apple is simple and it's centralised, you have no control over how things are done. 😎
oh for sure. i’m just referencing how easy their products are to use. definitely not the example for blockchain to follow though when it comes to centralized issues lol
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Ummm Fun I used to know what that was
But seriously I definitely agree with KISS. If we do I am sure we would get more people sharing their two cents or is it five cents now a days
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lol not sure yet. but i’m almost back to full voting power. full resource credits. so i’m ready to rock :)
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Congrats on getting it out there. I made my obligatory HF20 post the first day after the fork and have been off to timely crypto stuff since. It's nice to go on record where you stand, heh?
I totally agree with you that things are too complicated for most people on here. I've tried so hard to bring people over, but it winds up being so much work for me once I introduce someone to it, because they don't expect it to be so complicated. They don't expect to have to approach it as a new job with a 2 week full-time training period!
That's how I had to approach it, honestly. And I think that's why I've done well on here. But not everyone is interested in being that hard core. Some people just want an uncensored, ad-free, privacy protected social media platform to operate on, and consider it a bonus that you also get paid for your content. Or maybe they want the pay for content mostly and appreciate the rest. None of them are looking for a computer science degree so they can post.
I react the same way when I hear people writing about selling RCs and a market developing for it. These are the same people complaining about bots. Let me be clear, before I take on the new hobby of trading in the RC market, I'll just delegate all my stake to a bot and be done with it.
If this thing is going to have staying power, the future development needs to think more about users and less about companies that may want SMTs. They can start all the SMTs they want, but if the flagship project goes under, won't that take the tokens built on the chain down with it?
Maybe not. Maybe all the company cares about is at least one SMT being enough of a winner to save the chain by giving it enough value. Then they can stop maintaining steemit completely and get on with just spending their money.
yeah great points. i would hate to see them start caring more about companies and less about people and communities.
but i think this hardfork was a must to get ready for the community initiatives that are planned.
here’s hoping lol
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Dude, I just had a convo about this with several folks, including one witness, and it has become clear that STINC's intention is 100% the SMTs and to discontinue Steemit as soon as they don't need it for experimentation anymore. We will never get out of beta. They are making this available to us while it's in development so that we can help them with development, and paying us some STEEM along the way. I'm pretty sure at this point that that's the entire relationship. They do not value our experience on here. They value the data we create that they can use for further development.
Urgggh. That sadly. Wouldn’t surprise me. And i’m all for the blockchain and the smt powered applications. but i would hate to see such a powerful blogging platform disappear :(
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I was writing my follow up comment (below) while you were replying to me.
Yeah, a bit of a shame, but they've got a bigger game plan, so we'll see.
lol ya just saw that.
It would be. but i think (and hope) an smt could power and even better blogging platform. but like you said. we will see lol
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... which, okay.
I can live with that now that I'm clear about it. I'm no longer perplexed or disappointed in their decisions, because now it all makes sense.
I won't be bringing my Native American youths on here though. I'll wait until one of the SMTs gets to a point of stability and fairness that I think justifies my asking that vulnerable community to invest themselves in it. In the meantime, I've got enough SP to be okay myself, and just have to accept that all growth will come from people with money to invest in STEEM.
That's probably enough to get them to SMTs without the price of the coin collapsing. We'll see.
Hoping the next new system platform update will benefit all newer and higher ranking steemians alike! 😊 for now it’s getting a bit more understanding how each post, upvote n response will mean...how much mana n rc to drain at a time
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agreed. i think things will work
out :)
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Crossing fingers, me too!!!
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You have a valid point, Jon... of all things currently being dumbed down, crypto and steem need to be added to that list. If people don't understand how it works and the terminology, they will avoid it so as not to look unintelligent. There is a saying that the PTB need to remember... KEEP IT SIMPLE!!! Once it is explained, it is obvious, but to the newbies it is so much gobblety-goop... Just because you have been in crypto and steem for months or years, and its terminology and how it works is second nature to you, it needs to be explained to newbies so they can acquire that feeling of familiarity!
agreed. it just makes people more comfortable to use things when they ‘get it’. not saying people shouldn’t do their best to learn new things. just the user experience should be easier to adopt.
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@jongolson you make some very valid points... Not everyone understands the complexity of 20 nodes and the maintenance of them... which is a shared expense. Then you have to make changes to all servers so there is not thrashing, etc. So much more than that is involved here... but, you hit the nail on the head! It is about K.I.S.M.I.F (Keep It Simple Make It Fun). So when a slow down or a pause occurs people get upset because their normal day to day activity is interrupted.
It is so important for all of us to remember what it says underneath that logo at the top left hand corner... it is still beta. When you are on the leading edge sometimes it becomes the bleeding edge and action must be taken to resolve issues. We are simply from the outside looking it... I would suggest to the @steemitblog that an advisory board be setup that has a mixture of levels on the blockchain. That way they can hear from folks at all levels to see what is working or not working. Plus a usability / user experience discussion. Having fun in what we due is key...
I am no longer doing tech work as it is very tedious and stressful during time like this. I am burned out to say the least! So making things KISMIF is a must for me as well! When you have spent 48 hours working non-stop on operations on trillions of bytes of data and servers bigger than your largest refrigerator you some time lose perspective of what works for the average Jill & Joe on the street! Now make this an entire datacenter that has hundreds of server affected by 1 single part that failed on everyone! Now you have a clue of what stress can be like! :)
yeah. they are going to crush it. i have no doubt about that. i just don’t want the current ‘people’ to be left behind while trying to attract everyone else.
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I totally get that as well... a fine line between moving forward and not forgetting where you came from! :)
I totally agree @jongolson. This has been my issue with Steemit from the start. I see so much potential in it, but that's worth nothing if it doesn't get adopted by the average person and the current user experience is just too complicated to navigate.
exactly! and that’s who i think we should be trying to attract. the everyday person that sees the potential and wants to actually use this stuff.
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Great post thx for sharing your thoughts! I hear ya I was having quite a bit of difficulty myself trying to figure what this new HF update means as well, and saddened me when the new updates would inhibit users like myself with lower ranking scale ie Minnow status from doing anything. Being and active poster n especially responded a lot of replies prior to this change I felt penalized for being so active because I ended up having inability to post or respond for days. I literally just reached full mana n RC this morning so here I m back posting. Anyhow I’m glad to b back n upvote to support your post. Always welcome ur response to my post as well lol. Cheers~
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yeah. and that’s who steem needs to grow. people that will use it everyday regardless of how much mana / steem power / resource credits they have.
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