Prophesy
Three months ago, I prophesised,
Therein lays the beauty of Steemit. It shows that rewarding writers for good content IS possible. Whether this platform has the perfect mechanisms or approach is irrelevant. The Pandora’s box has been opened. Writers can make a living outside of the centralised paradigm. No need for agents, publishers, google adsense.. etc. You just need a login, a laptop and an internet connection. The trick is understanding that Steemit will not be the only show in town. Where Steemit falls short, others will step in. Step in to compete for one thing... the thoughts, feelings and ideas of you and me. We are the King makers!
Real platform vs Paper platform
So what are we to make of 
Has Steemit fallen short? Has Synereo stepped in?
I believe the "fall" of Steem/ Steemit is greatly exaggerated and the "rise" of Synereo is premature.
Steemit is far from perfect. However it IS a work-in-progress. It is out here, being stress tested and tackling actual (not conceptual) challenges. Synereo, which I highlighted three weeks ago as having an impressive looking demo, has zero users and zero demands on the protocol. There is a huge gulf between a great idea on paper and live site that has real world users to contend with and challenges to overcome.
I will reserve judgement on Synereo for when it is actually released and gains user traction. I've been involved in the cryptocurrency space for over two years. I've seen many projects promising the earth yet delivering little more than vapourware. I'm not saying that Synereo is one of them however being an "attention economy" it will need to earn my limited attention with a release and reward system that works.
Stellabelle's concerns
I've a lot of respect for
(1) "Problem #1: Steemit users have no control over their personal safety and whom they choose to associate with or not associate with"
Response:
Successful people get trolled on the internet. It's can get disgusting and it can get very ugly. However any successful person that ventures beyond private chat/ networking on social media is going to attract trolls. Trolls are the vampires of the internet. They get their kicks out of sucking the energy out of others. Do not feed them. Their activities fall into the realms of criminality in most jurisdictions. Report them to authorities and the site owners, block and forget them. Steemit has a follow function and is/ has implemented a mute button. It may not be perfect, however it will likely get there before Steemit moves out of beta.
I understand Synereo says it will have functionality to allow users to control their local network, however it will be interesting to see how this marries with the ability to reach "the masses" with blog posts? Assuming there is an option to engage in a public forum, the issue of trolling is sure to arise.
(2) Problem #2: Popular and well-respected, valuable content creators and influencers and also those with high reputation do not currently control the direction of the reward system.
Response:
Having watched the Synereo rewards demo, the rewards (AMPS) are controlled by those that choose to (or can afford to) amplify content.
I can easily see a scenario where 'popular and well-respected, valuable content creators and influencers' are not rewarded for their content on the Synereo platform. Particularly if their content is consumed by those that cannot afford to amplify it. Most users are use to consuming content online without having to pay for it.
I can however see Whale and Advertisers ampifying content they have a vested interest in. I can even see people choosing to join their network to get a trickle of the amp rewards. It could be a platform where people are paid to watch ads, with consuming quality content being a secondary concern.
Speculating
Much of what I've written in the preceding section is speculation. We can speculate either way on how Synereo will turn out. We can do this because the battle has yet to begin. Let's wait until next month, until Synereo finally throws it's hat into the ring, before we declare it to be a contender, let alone a successor to Steemit.
To borrow a baseball metophor, we are at the bottom of the first innings, and (after two years in the making) Synereo has yet to step up to bat.
Full disclosure - I own a not insignificant amount of both Steem Power and Amps.