The Beginning After The End...
It should come as no surprise that I have been unwilling, unenthusiastic and/or low key for awhile on STEEM now. This is not the longest period between posts since I joined STEEM, but it is without a doubt the worst period I've been through since I joined in July 2016...
Too many ships have sailed, so to speak.
I don't think that this is the end of STEEM or anything like that, but the more time that has passed, the more I've felt that it really doesn't matter if I'm here or not. Look, this is not an attempt to get some pity-votes or anything like that. Fuck that. I'm not that type of person.
The thing is, that I've experienced "downs" before as well, but I've been brought up to the surface filled with more motivation and energy than ever each time due to others... And that is not likely to happen again.
It was 
Yes, I am a bit biased regarding the SOG-initiative like I've said before due to a delegation I got, but it was far from the main reason for me to love the initiative. His selflessness, kindness and encouragement reached a long way in this ocean and it was in line with my personal ideas and beliefs at the time. I am a sucker for pay-it-forward initiatives and approaches, so the SOG was the best thing I had ever seen, at the time...
I know there are still a bunch of really great users on STEEM and I could probably mention a handful of cool projects, ideas, dApps or whatever if I wanted too... But, none of those initiatives gives me that warm and cozy feeling I've felt before.
STEEM is not what I wanted it to be, and it never will be. That is something I have realized, but I have had problems with accepting those facts. I usually don't regret much, but one of the things I regret is that I never took advantage of STEEM in ways I could have done, and that I, no matter my own situation, continued to think of others. I often did so before myself, my own account and my own well-being... I did that, because I allowed myself to be fooled.
Throughout my time on STEEM, I made sure to be open, honest and trustworthy. I made sure to make my audience know me and I was stupid enough to believe that it would make a huge difference...
- All I ever wanted, was to have impact.
I tried to pave the way for others, I spent countless hours writing tutorials and how-to's for the average users, I made sure to always respond to all my DMs, no matter what... I co-launched a minnow support project, I launched a few myself too in an attempt to strengthen the middle class. I focused on my own blog more than anything, and I replied to the majority of all the comments I ever got because I wanted my audience to know that I care about them. I have always said that my audience is and has always been my most important asset on STEEM, but it's actually inaccurate.
It would've been true if STEEM would've been a social media platform like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram, but it's not, and influencers doesn't have much to say on STEEM in general, except for the influencers that are big when they join.
I could go on an on with things I have done since I joined, but this is not about any of those things specifically... This is about my own mindset. I have changed, because STEEM changed me. My followers have not been my most important asset on STEEM in a very long time, but I did everything I could to believe in that...
- I lied to myself, and to my audience.
But I didn't do it on purpose... I did it because I was ignorant and stupid enough to become a "true believer" in the goodness that surrounded us. My followers have always been good to me, they have always treated me okay and I have been encouraged and I've had awesome conversations many times, but if you look from a perspective when you count in $, most of my followers are useless. Sorry, it's not that I'm trying to step on any toes here, but it's true... And I am worthless too. Which is the reason for the title. An irrelevant relevant, because that is who I am. I am relevant to some, but I am irrelevant to most.
- Just like you.
I also talked about the importance of communication and laying out information so everyone would understand things, but no matter how much I talked about it, I was ignored. I was ignored because I am irrelevant to most.
People cry rivers because the price of STEEM sits at ~$0,40, there are dozens of people doing literally everything they can to bring people to STEEM, in an attempt to improve STEEM and in an attempt to get the price to go up...
I love it and I appreciate the efforts, but I have realized a long time ago that most things that any "average" user does, will never have any major impact because most people on STEEM are too ignorant to understand the importance of true influence and audience in general... STEEM is not about having a large following, it's about knowing the right person, which is why these people seems to be ignorant or stupid. They think inside the box instead of outside of the box. They are stuck in a pattern that destroys STEEM, and that makes any attempts to improve and change things almost impossible.
Any decent marketer or advertiser should know the simple basics in promotion and campaigns, yet I haven't seen a single good advertising campaign from STEEM inc so far. I haven't seen any major attempts to bring down the idiots promoting STEEM like a personal cash-cow either.
How hard can it be?
I am an irrelevant nobody, and I managed to bring dozens of people to STEEM. I put the name STEEM in front of hundreds of thousands of people, all alone. Are you trying to convince me that users with hundreds of thousands of STEEM Power can't achieve the same results?
Marketing sucks for STEEM in general, and truth to be told, it doesn't really matter. People know that STEEM exists, but they choose to stay away for various reasons. You can continue all you want in your desperate attempts to bring in average users day in and day out... It won't change anything because those who join will quickly leave.
You can either promote STEEM to average users. The people who are using Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, or you can focus on the very few people who're living in a basement somewhere. The anarchist type of people who gives the government the middle finger. - Who would benefit STEEM the most?
Is it that hard to understand? - Supply & Demand.
If you go to a bar with 9 friends and all your friends orders a beer, you are likely to order a beer too even if you'd rather would have wanted a water or a coke. It's about coherence, pressure, to use and to like the same thing as the people around you... Why do you think everyone has Facebook?
- Because even Bob has an account.
STEEM will never reach anything similar to mass adoption due to greed, selfishness, arrogance, ignorance and stupidity. The leadership is and has always been poor. The general advertising is inaccurate, false and stupid. You target the wrong audience and STEEM is stagnant... But most people are okay with that because they still earn.
STEEM has 99 problems, and you are one of the problems... And I am another problem. If everyone would look at STEEM like that, I bet STEEM would moon in a jiffy, but most people will never look at themselves as part of the problem. People are too "proud" for that in general...
And that ruins our chances too.