Survivors of Steem

After a recent review of my Steem Power delegations and finding that more projects have disappeared, I started to reflect about the journey so far and the many ups and downs we have seen in the past two years of the ecosystem. While I have mostly been able to avoid some of the disappearing acts, some have also impacted me but given the unique way this protocol is made with the Delegated Proof of Stake, we only suffer the opportunity cost of time and resources when it does happen. It is definitely a strong attraction for investors that our stakes, if well managed, can be well protected no matter who comes and goes here.

However, I continue to believe that the survivors of Steem need to thank very much all those whom have come and gone as they have been part of the growing learnings of the protocol in order to continually improve and make changes until the perfect formula finally appears to drive value, growth, and development for all that are stakeholders here. Failure should not be something to hide and instead should be seen as a necessary step to advance any type of development or business that is part of changing the world like blockchain technology is. The same was said with innovative and disruptive technologies like internet, e-commerce, and even social media years ago; yet look at how the new economy revolves around new and improved versions of those who pioneered changes early on. Some survived but many failed; everyone thrived.

If I consider the user themselves, we now have seen over 1.2 million accounts start here on Steem. While we know that many have been created by the same person or group of people for bot purposes, over a million is still a respectable figure to consider for a technology early in adoption. However, we have seen how retention has become an issue as only about 50k accounts remain active is someway while even less (about 14k) are active on a daily basis according to some metrics. In itself, these metrics have been telling us that retention is a clear opportunity we have here to foster if we are looking for long term sustainability of value creation.

However, I think that one of the other indication that this shows is how the community, while reduced, has come together to move the ecosystem forward and minimize the need of growth and funding for the protocol to remain sustainable. After some red flags being raised at Steemit Inc. last year as funding dried out, we have seen some hard work in development to make it cheaper to keep the protocol running and supporting the witnesses for their work no matter the price of the underlying currencies that are the foundation of rewards in the ecosystem. This was a major step forward as it continues to lay the foundation for an improved decentralized network that can provide continuity for the long term.

The community survivors took these early learnings a step forward to find ways to become even more independent of the large stakes that had been created early on and which remain in the hands of few. Along came Steem Engine and with upgrades that developers from around the community created, communities or Tribes were created. The Tribes have revolutionized Steem as they have distributed rewards according to their guidelines which have provided the ability for new and upcoming users to grow within them. This has visually led to some improved retention given the way Tribes can incentivize engagement on their platforms. What is most exciting is that this all continues to be built on Steem and the stakes underlying the protocol. This will ensure the value over time as the need to power transactions and development will create demand for Steem over time.

Projects and/or Dapps have been another layer of stakeholders that have evolved over time here on Steem. One of the most exciting discoveries for me personally early on was to see how broad and flexible the protocol could be with its technology which allows it to expand beyond the social side and into gaming and other types of Dapps. For me, it was the birth of the ecosystem instead of a single platform. However, like with users and probably more visibly, not all projects have been successful and they most often go out with a bang. We have seen many great ideas not make it for a number of reasons; funding being the most important one as delegations have mostly been a key for the success of most of them. However, a couple like Splinterlands have been able to find a great formula where they can achieve sustainable revenues without depending on delegations to persist and develop for growth and adoption.

Even those projects that have not made or have even struggled as of late have planted the seed for ideas that can ultimately achieve the spark needed to improve the ecosystem longer term. So many come to mind like Share2Steem, MagicDice (I know it was an exit scam), and many others. These are still great concepts which were just missing the revenue and funding portion of the thought process. However, capital is still abundant in the world and a good business plan could go a long way so I am still encouraged by the potential. There are others that have gone somewhat silent and wish we could hear some more from like Steepshot and Partiko!

#NewSteem is bringing back some line of sight and while it may still be a confusing place where retention is a challenge, I think that the continued learning of the attempts of many will ultimately pave the way for the survivors. Early adopters often present unique attributes that allow them to be patient and adapt as progress continues. It is up to each of us to determine which side of the statistics we will be counted as so look for a chair or community and continue this journey with those of us for the long term!

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