A person (Sun) with a ton of money bought Steemit and had a disproportionate influence on the Steem blockchain and so we forked. Will people just keep forking over and over?
He did but he also bought cheaply beneath the counter to gain that influence. An option that isn't there today and would cost a lot more in the open market. The longer that we are in operation as a blockchain, the more decentralized that it becomes as stake spreads further and wider making it harder to buy a majority. Still possible but less probable.
There have also been further protections added since the hardfork to prevent exchanges influencing the chain which is the real cause of his takeover. Without their stake it would not have happened the way that it did. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next few years but i do think that people will realize the need for alternative options to the big companies that are creating a powerful monopoly over social media these days. It's a dangerous path to follow unless people begin to change their habits.
I agree with you. Facebook financial started as a company that monetized your attention and used it to direct your purchasing behavior which made Facebook really rich, but now the social media companies and the rest of the big data companies are using your attention to drive your voting and political behavior. These platforms are also allowing people to create tribal identities at scale and with grave political and physical consequences. I see QAnon as a tribe. They have a religion with their own mythology and it is directing real behavior and some of it is violent.