I'm brand new to this, so my opinion is rather uninformed, sorry. But....

1. User sign up: I had to repeatedly try to sign up. I kept getting error messages, before it finally let me verify my email. I can see other potential users being scared off and giving up.
2. Visibility: I only heard of Steemit from the Dollar Vigilante, I haven't seen it in other places. Is there a way to post the Steemit logo/ hotlink on other pages, and get a reward in Steem if a new user uses the link to sign up? (kind of like Amazon does but referrals)

So far, being on here has been a learning and fun experience, hopefully by thoughts aren't covered elsewhere (like the white paper- still need to read that) ;-)