I think it is because investors don't necessarily care about the end users that is part of the problem perhaps. It is much easier to speculate on something that doesn't appear to have as much 'baggage' tied to it. As a coin/blockchain, it outperforms most but because of the community aspect, a lot of the dirty laundry is public. The other projects can hide a lot of the dirt and therefore, hype a lot of the nonsense.
At the end of the day though, I think that mature investors will see the benefit and potential of having a community attached over vaporware that is most other projects. Immature investors which make up most of the market most likely are looking for fast profits, not long term growth prospects. As the projects with use case start to get traction, investors will move from the shitcoin pumps to those that have an increased utility, less risk and more stability. Plus with Steem, many ways to earn without having to sell the investment.
I also think that for the most part, people who might be talking to potential investors aren't necessarily the most capable to do so.
This would be my point too, even though I feel the prices of coins follow the big player.
If an investor were to google STEEM, they would find this place, and from page one, what do you see?
FUD from our own members, someone's breakfast, maybe some golden healing powder if you are very unlucky.
Saying that, I'm super bullish - maybe the trick at present is to scare people away and hit them with the 'you should have bought in before SMT dude!'
Spread that FOMO...
Yes, this is a huge factor, which is amplified by the fact that blogging doesn't offer a tangible ROI in and of itself. Perhaps, SMTs may give new STEEM to a stagnant economy.
Steemit will always be a pioneer. I think the 'pay to post' system is here to stay. That said, the riff-raff scam and bot infestation is a huge turnoff to anyone with serious wealth putting serious money in the pot.
Anyone who tracks the market, even a novice such as I, can see that we're currently playing with a helium balloon manipulated by a handful of people. Unlike, for example, Apple, there is no tangible asset associated with the Steem economy which can't be easily replicated.
Best regards.
Peace.
I agree take we have to take vaporware hype into account. Investors have limited attention, if they see flashy "Future AI Big Data Blockchain 10.0 will 10000x " peddled by cute ladies, they invest. Steem on the other hand gets shadowed because we already have a product and no snake-oil miniskirt clad salesladies.
I guess it's just a matter of coming up with a unified marketing strategy. Perhaps an independant "Steem Foundation" run by steemians of all interests to drive marketing to a meaningful level. mirroring what is done with the bitcoin, ethereum, dash foundations maybe....