Any blockchain user can create new accounts. AnonSteem sells accounts and is linked in the FAQ. If people really want to pay for accounts, they can do so today. SteemConnect also allows people with existing accounts to pay to create new ones.
New users don't read FAQs. If it's not clearly told in the signup page, they don't know about it.
We are not gatekeepers and we're not keeping anyone out. If the demand you describe is actually there, they will use the tools available to get their accounts (which will work fine on this site).
I don't think you understand how big influence Steemit.com has. Steemit is much more known than Steem. When people, especially potential new users, come to Steem, they don't know anything about how to make accounts to the blockchain or what different UIs there are. They will come to Steemit.com and what it will show to them, is the only thing they know about the whole system until they maybe later learn something more.
So Steemit.com has great responsibility.
In the beginning I was really happy to see a real company with big stake because it can make the development and marketing much more faster and efficient compared to decentralized efforts. But this current situation shows that is not always the case. Most startups have problems getting new customers, but Steemit doesn't seem to be prioritizing user acquisition even there is big demand for accounts.
Someday Steemit's stake will be used and it can't afford anymore to give away free accounts. There will be a point when new users have to buy their accounts. It's better to set up the system sooner than later. It would help Steem's growth even today.
If large demand for buying accounts were there, FAQ or not, we would see a lot more AnonSteem volume.
We won't be selling accounts - that isn't our bottleneck.
We are absolutely prioritizing user acquisition—but in a data-driven way.
You really can't assume that new potential users are aware that AnonSteem exists.
You need to assume that new users knows only what Steemit.com tells them. Currently it tells that the only way to get an account is to get into the list and wait.
The bottleneck is every time when a new user doesn't get the account immediately. What people are saying this happens way too often. I don't see any other easy solution to speed up the process than selling the accounts.
What does that even mean? What frustrates me the most is that Steemit Inc acts so secretively and vaguely. What kind of data you are collecting? How you are analysing it? What are the insights? Why you are not open about these things?
In my book data-driven in this context could mean making A/B testing. You don't any new functionality for that, you could just link to AnonSteem and tell that people can get an account faster if they use it. And you can point out that if they know somebody who already use Steem, they can make an account for them with SteemConnect. If you'd do that, you could see how many users actually use them and have better data.