When the price is low and new projects are getting a lot of attention it is normal to question where you are spending time and effort. I often question myself on this.
Speaking for myself, I hold many Cryptocurrencies, most of them rise and fall on the speculation market. They are often victims of quick news stories, Bitcoin and the hype that young markets are driven by.
An advantage that Steem holds for me is the ability to use to my Stake to gain more stake. I can't do that with PowerLedger, Skychain or EOS. Whatever I hold in nearly all my other projects just stays the same, and the value goes up and down with the price. Also, on Steem, I am a part of the community and I get to know and work with others that are holding Steem. I like that, it gives me a mostly false sense of participation. :)
This may not be true for miners and developers, maybe they have more influence in other projects, but with the skill set I have, my best bet is to maximize my holdings on Steem.
Many people here seem to focus on what everyone else is doing and earning, I am not concerned if others are getting rich or not earning. It doesn't concern me because I learned life isn't fair a long time ago, and I also learned I can't control what other people decide to do. For me what matters comes down to am I enjoying earning whatever I earn here and whether or not I am missing other opportunities by focusing my energy here.
SteemIt, Inc. is working on the Steem blockchain, they are not working on the Steemit.com community. And I am glad. They are not going to change the trending page or control people's stake or flag bad actors. That is the job of the community, not Ned or SteemIt, Inc. They are building SMTs and Communities and the future. I don't care that they don't manage the community and if they did, I would probably be annoyed.
Most of the "issues" that become hot topics are fun to talk about, but are either out of my control or non-factors to me. I enjoy reading and interacting on the site. I love the odd and volatile conversations on SteemSpeak. I recognise as we grow we are going to get many new users and types and there will always be people who are not cut out for crypto, freedom, start ups and mess that comes along with young projects. (I am also not worried about retention, this is a non-factor at this stage)
I watch the Witnesses fight about Witness issues, but for me, if the system is creating competition for the Witness Positions and we have plenty of people willing to run mining equipment the system is working. The content creators fight about what is Quality Content, I say the conversation is a waste of time, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't read fiction online, I don't watch vlogs. That doesn't mean others don't. I do like memes, dank jokes and commentary, and many other topics not everyone does. The more types of content we can facilitate the better.
I understand that paying people for content is a risky business model, and I accept the risk. I've mentioned before that many companies have tried and failed at paying for content. If you had to take a dollar bill out of your pocket to read someone's article how often would you choose to do it? We aren't used to paying for content directly, it is usually paid for with advertisements. In this environment a good part of the value of content is being supported by speculation and investment in the cryptocurrency, Steem. This is why I do not lose sleep over whether or not our content selection model is perfect or not. Of course it isn't, this is a stake based system - the amount of Steem that you hold gives you influence.
I can't close this rambling view without touching on EOS. So far, EOS is not competing with Steem directly on any level other than the currency. I know there is a a lot of hype around the project and torn loyalties and all. I don't have any loyalties to Ned or Dan. I can find positive qualities and things I dislike about both of them. I am not spending my days trying to support Ned or Dan. At the point EOS puts out a project that competes with Steem, I will likely evaluate it. In order to change where I put my energy I would have to walk away from a lot of work I have done here. So, it would have to be pretty engaging. I do hold both Steem and EOS. For now EOS goes up and down without any input from me, just like my other holdings.
It is a young product in a young market space, it is messy, subject to change and high risk. Play at your own risk.
How do you judge whether or not Steem is worth your energy?
