All content on Steemit is highly censored and centralized since the few actual users who own majority of the supply get to decide which posts make it to the front page and which posts get higher payouts. Accounts are easy to create and majority of the top accounts are most likely controlled by a small group of people making Steemit highly susceptible to sybil attacks. Simply put, for any content to make it to the front page, it is subject to the approval of the developer and his ‘friends’…
Are you an influential or well-known public figure? The developer and his ‘friends’ will give you a nice ‘payout’ so you feel good and start promoting their shady platform to the public. The number of people being lured in through this method is alarming and disappointing. Post something that the majority stakeholders don’t like and your post will never see the light of day despite being well-received by many users.
Reddit operates using an up-vote and down-vote system and every individual user can up-vote or down-vote content once. If a post gets enough up-votes, it can reach the front page.
Now imagine if each vote from the Reddit staff counted as 5000 votes. This is what is basically happening on Steemit.
Steemit is basically a version of Reddit that is almost completely controlled and censored by the creator and his ‘friends’. The content on Steemit and value of STEEM is also at their complete mercy. Unlike decentralized networks, Steemit is almost completely dependent on the developer and his ‘friends’.
Simplified overview of STEEM and Steemit.
- Rig the distribution process so that you end up with almost all of the STEEM supply.
- Create a platform that allows for the monetization of content.
- Make sure certain users get extravagant payouts to lure in more users (the payout is a tiny fraction when compared to how much STEEM you and your friends own).
- As more people are lured in, STEEM becomes more ‘valuable’, resulting in those who own majority of the supply getting rich along with the select few they choose.