Hi Steem Family,

I was out walking this morning, wearing this Steem beanie and it made me think of you all and how sad I was to miss Steemfest this year. You see, I got this beanie in Poland at last year's Steemfest and look back at that trip with nothing but a massive pile of fond memories. (Speaking of Steemfest... what' the word on the street ya'll? Any clues about where next year will be?)

So what are my current thoughts on Steem? Well ironically enough it's kind of like this picture.

Stormy clouds behind us, sunny days ahead... so grab your sunglasses.

Some of you may have been following along with my recent Girl Gone Crypto adventures where I've been expanding my online presence outside of these walls. This has opened a ton of doors for me to attend more crypto conferences and meet a bunch of great people in the space. Naturally, people always ask me how I got involved in crypto and I tell them how I started posting on Steem a few years ago and how that was really my "gateway drug' to the world of crypto!

You know what's interesting? I don't think I've run into a single person in the space that has said "What is Steem?". Our brand awareness is uncanny. Do people have a positive, negative, or a neutral opinion about Steem? I'd say most seem pretty neutral. Maybe they've posted a bit, but it was years ago... or they have heard of it but never tried it out. Sometimes I run into people who had a bad experience with downvotes, losing their keys or something like that... but for the most part people are pretty indifferent.

I actually don't think that's a terrible place to be - because if people don't have a strongly formed opinion - then that means they are probably open to considering new information and trying it out.

There are SO many decentralized social platforms out there now... I can't even keep up with them all. Steem has a pretty big advantage of being the early mover though... Steem is literally the platform that pioneered this space. What's interesting too... is that Steem is one of the only truly decentralized platforms out there. A lot of them claim to be... but they are simply incorporating crypto elements into their platforms - but they aren't actually built on a blockchain. I guess that poses an interesting question of whether user experience or decentralization is more important. A lot of these platforms incorporate centralized components because they say it's needed for a better user experience... but that's a whole nother discussion.

I think the long bear market has been hard on us. I'll be the first to admit that I really miss the days of late 17/early 18 when this place was buzzing, when other creators on the platform were constantly challenging me to uplevel my game because they were too and I wanted to keep up, when I would have a post that got 100+ intelligent/thoughtful comments.

Do I think those days are just distant memories, or can we return to being a vibrant, exciting platform? I actually think this bear market slump has (in some ways) helped our community mature. I think it has humbled us a bit. Because let's face it, we used to be damn good at scaring people away with our "unwritten social rules" that no new person could ever know. Unwritten pressures about what and how people should post. Although I think there are still people going around telling people what to do - for the most part, that kind of destructive behavior has chilled out a bit. Is that just because stakes are lower right now due to much smaller post payouts... and that will return when posts are worth hundreds of dollars again? Maybe... but I think seeing how low and barebones things can get on the platform will hopefully help us be more accepting and encouraging of new users next time we have a bit uptick in price.

As someone who has been on the platform for a few years - I can definitely say that the price of Steem directly correlates to the number of users. Do I think we'll go back to $1-3 steem? I sure hope so... and yes I do think it's very possible in the next big alt season. Will that help drive users back to the platform... probably. What could we be doing to ensure it does mean we can attract more users? My gut reaction is to say some heavy-handed marketing from Steemit - and a really clear message and value proposition. If we can really distill down our messaging and have both the community and the Steemit marketing align - we could make quite the splash. What is that message? Well again, that's a post for another day - but I do think we should own our heritage while showing the possibility for the future. We have a lot more to offer than most people realize.

Well that's the end of my rambly free-write. I'd love to hear any thoughts you guys have that was sparked from something I said above. I love you guys and look forward to bright days ahead for our commuity.

XO, Lea