Sounds a bit dramatic, huh? But think about this.

There are over 1,000,000 Steem accounts, but there are only 50,000 to 60,000 active accounts. Sorry that I cannot remember who I heard this from. If you know the source, let me know so I can give credit.

source

What Makes A Steem Account Dead?

The answer to this question is a bit subjective. So instead of telling you my definition of a dead account, I think it is best to mention some variables I used to help me reach my definition.

• Last Known Steem Activity - Time and Type - Has the account be active in the last month? Last 6 months? Last 12 months?
• Current Estimated Account Value - Is the account valued at $10 or less? Or has someone left a significant amount of Steem or SBD in their account?
• Recent Powerdowns - Is the account currently powering down? Is the most recent activity on the account a power down?
• Ongoing Investments - Is the account receiving ongoing payments for Steem Power delegation or other investment opportunities?

Examples:

• Dead - If you find an account whose last activity was over 6 months ago and was successfully powered down at that time, you have found a dead account.
• Alive - Hive account@hendrikdegrote has not posted, commented, or resteemed in over one year, but the account has a high estimated value and actively votes on posts that have been curated by Hive account@curie.

Steem.Agency

I recently stumbled upon a great resource, called Steem.Agency - big shout out to @SirCork.

With Steem.Agency, you can check the activity of Steem accounts that you follow with a feature that is affectionately called "Following the Dead."

Steem.Agency allows you to determine if an account's last post or vote occurred ...

• 1 month ago
• 2 months ago
• 3 months ago
• 4 months ago

I took this information and ran a "following" audit.

• First, I set the drop-down box to "post" and " 4 months ago."

• Second, I investigated the lists of accounts that was provided.
  • I "unfollowed" all accounts that were truly inactive for more than 8 months (based on my definition of a dead account).
  • I continued to follow some inactive accounts because I had enjoyed the content that was created, and I hope the creator comes back.
  • I continued to follow some accounts that are not actively posting or commenting but are very active in regards to delegation and voting.
  • I reached out to two or three content creators who were inactive because, but they had left breadcrumbs on how to reach them and asked how they were doing.

What Do You Think?

I want to hear from you.

1. Are you concerned about the inactivity of Steem accounts?
2. How many inactive accounts are you following?
3. Have you ever performed a "following" audit and unfollowed Steem accounts that are not active or not relevant to you anymore?

Thanks for stopping!

@SumatraNate