I think in the end my idea of what the witnesses' main role boils down to one thing:
- The stability of STEEM itself.
There's a bit of jockeying for popularity which thankfully isn't actually a big impact because after all, the witness results are going to be impacted by those with the most stake, not who is the most popular. That's actually a good thing in my mind. Not enough people are educated enough about how the system works and those that have invested so much better damn well have done their homework.
Of the list you have, 1 is absolutely the most important.
Anyone can make blocks. But witnesses set monetary policy, and they better know about the debt ratio and how SBD printing works and all that jazz.
Make blocks. Set monetary policy.
The others are kind of blurry. Is that actually the job of the witness? Or is that the job of the stakeholders to control that with their voting behavior and actions?
I think of witnesses as the economic advisory body, which should be voted on the basis of their knowledge of the system and the steem ecosystem.
The others are great but I wouldn't say it's a requirement for a witness. Driving value is on the rest of us.
That said, #2 and #5 are also very important for the stability of STEEM and would be what I think the witnesses should prioritize after #1.
Us non witnesses could probably handle the rest. (But I won't object to witnesses picking up some of that also).
My two cents.
This is one of the best replies I think I've ever received on one of my posts! So good, in fact, that I thought it deserved much more than my upvote (since most of my SP is delegated) so I went ahead and bought a bigger vote for it since this is a shining example of when post promotion services should be used.
You're absolutely spot on with everything you've said. Now that I re-read my post I was really mixing being a witness with being a leader of the platform. It's not required for a witness to be a Steem leader and vice versa, even though they very often do overlap.
As you said though, for witnesses being a leader is great, but setting the monetary policy and ensuring the platform runs smoothly is the absolute top priority. A great example of this is the bandwidth issues that new users are currently experiencing right now and I know the top witnesses are discussing potential solutions to that problem.
Thank you kindly! Good to know the bandwidth issue is being discussed, things are heating up here in Steem land :)
Hello yabapmatt, I sent @booster 1 SBD today but no upvote still been given on my post.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@mawattoo8/today-on-duty-3f9d8808c49c9
What should I do to get my hardly earned money refunded.
You got a 7.23% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @yabapmatt! Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
Are you manually operating this bot ? I sent you 10 SBD a hour ago, and nothing happening. Can you explain why this problem ?
You have received a refund, sorry for the issue.
I have sent 5SBD to @postpromoter but not upvoted.
Can you please check the status or refund ?
You have received a refund, sorry for the issue.
Thank you very much. I hope issue is solved.
I have sent 2SBD to @postpromoter but not upvoted.
Can you please check the status or refund ?
You have received a refund, sorry for the issue.
Same problem here. Please check.
You have received a refund, sorry for the issue.
Thank you.
“I think of witnesses as the economic advisory body, which should be voted on the basis of their knowledge of the system and the steem ecosystem.”
After thinking about it a little further, I couldn’t agree with you more. Keeping incentives properly aligned will be one of the critical aspects to creating a true network effect, thus really growing the Steem blockchain, and the ecosystem being built on it. Thoughtful response and good job @yabapmatt for recognizing it and spreading some love where its due.