If you'd rather just hear how the Engagement Guild solves the user retention issues, watch me in video form describing it:
[ignore the high-looking thumbnail image.....I'm going to fix that shortly]

I hereby present to you the Engagement Guild Proposal.

PROBLEM: Users are frustrated that their high engagement posts are not being rewarded. Then they write their "This Is My Final Post On Steemit" and then go back to Facebook/Reddit, etc. where they continue to get engagement.

SOLUTION: Engagement Guild.

Before I explain how the Engagement Guild will work, I need to illustrate to the Steemit community why it's necessary. Curie and Steem Guild are doing a fine job, and those should remain, but in order to move to the next level, engagement needs to be rewarded. I think we can all agree that social engagement brings value to a network. Social value equals more social engagement, more passion, more web traffic, equals more investors, equals a higher value for Steem. This is basic 101 social media.

Everyone in here currently disagrees with "what is valuable", but fans of a particular person drive engagement, which in turns drives the value of a network up. As a particular person gains more and more engagement, their value goes up. Rewards should organically follow this increased engagement. This is how Steemit can grow organically, and how groups tend to form in all online communities.

Groups and content lovers do not need to be picked apart by overlords determining how valuable the content they love is.

People on Steemit are already determining what to engage with. They are doing so organically. The comments tell the story. Humans are guided more by emotions and that needs to be the number one priority in Steemit right now. I know everyone will say, "but mainstream!" Well, creating a healthy, well-functioning system that creates happiness is what we need. When we are functioning well, others will take notice. By trying to attract everyone to a place that is not functioning well, we fail. We build upon the basic tenets of creating a system that creates the maximum happiness. The rest will follow. I've done this myself in social media, so I know what I'm talking about. Remember, I am a user. Not a programmer, not a miner, A USER.

(And for all those thinking that I'm trying to create more rewards for myself, you're wrong. I am happy as a creator in Steemit and I don't need to be trending all the time. Once a week would be nice, but every day would feel just wrong. I felt guilty when I did in the past and that affected my feelings about being here, because I knew I did not deserve it. I am building my blog in Steemit as if it were my personal real estate. I am aware that I am a guinea pig and that the devs don't have everything built yet. But I think my solutions should really be considered because I'm one of the very few early adopter users who is still active, very active in here.)

I now view my successes based on the following metrics:

1. Did I get any new followers today?
2. How many people engaged with my post or read it?

Those are the 2 main things I attribute my personal success to. Steemit should be the same, and follow this.

Let's take a look at a post that had 86 comments, 179 votes and 161 eyeballs:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@barrydutton/a-minnow-speaks-my-open-letter-to-the-steemit-community-the-good-bad-and-the-ugly

This post echoes a lot of minnows and it generated a lot of social activity, as clearly indicated by the 161 reads. That is a lot of reading going on. And 86 comments is huge. The reward so far is $2.51. The Engagement Guild would fix this by taking notice of the enormous social engagement that came from this user and giving higher rewards. In the short time I've gotten to know this user, I can sense his overwhelming passion for Steemit. His passion is what attracted me to his blog, and has attracted many others too. When users put forth passion, receive a ton of eyeball views, and a ton of comments, then receive $2.51, the system is not working. This is the kind of thing that frustrates people. I have the solution.

HOW THE ENGAGEMENT GUILD WOULD WORK

1. Posts are compiled by the amount of comments.
2. A group of humans in the form of an Engagement Guild Team would review all the posts with the highest comments and eyeballs (readers).
3. Having humans review the comment section would get rid of bot and sybil attack problems, since humans can still see what is written by a human and what is written by a bot.
4. Humans would also quickly glance at the type of commenting, and detect fake, superficial comments like "good job! nice post!".

The effect of rewarding true engagement would be as follows:

1. It would make users stay on the platform.
2. It would set an example to other newbies that their hard work in attracting and engaging others will be rewarded.
3. It would entice real bloggers, artists, creators to set up their home in Steemit.
4. The residual effects would be felt throughout Steemit and the internet.
5. It would encourage authenticity, creativity, autonomy, and real content.
6. It would encourage people to create content that resonates with others, instead of placating the whims of the whales.

The residual effect in the future, as we build out communities, is greater autonomy, freedom and happiness.

It is happiness, freedom and engagement that creates real value in life and on the internet. I think we all know this.

I am willing to spearhead this effort and I promise to everyone that I will not abuse this system for my own benefit. In fact, all team members who would be on the Engagement Guild Team would take an oath to not use the voting guild for their own posts. The team members would become a part of the guild organically, as the ones who cultivate and encourage others will become known to the community in an organic fashion.

Whale Support Is Essential In Moving This Engagement Idea Into Reality. If you are a whale and think this guild would move Steemit in a good direction, please contact me here or in Steemit Chat. Users so far have said they think it's a good idea that could make a difference.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for your attention,
Stellabelle

By the way, I have created a group in Facebook called STEEMIT NEWBIES. It's a help page, designed to answer questions from users who are very new to Steemit: https://www.facebook.com/steemitnewbies

It's a place where people can get actual help in the form of a person answering very specific questions about Steemit. It's part of my Operation Newbies series of projects. I'll make a post about this seperately.

Facebook, Medium, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter...those are my stomping grounds, so it makes sense to set up Steemit Newbies groups in those platforms in order to siphon off and help people who are trying to transition to Steemit.