I'm new to steemit also. A few days ago, I ran across something that said that the entire blockchain is stored on each witness's server. AFAIK from that document, the entire blockchain is stored as a single file object on a single computer, and that the data currently occupies something less than 200 GB.

If this is true, then the software is NOT scalable, notwithstanding claims to the contrary.

I don't want to start any rumors, but my best estimate of the situation is that the smart money knows that the software is not scalable and that the number of active users isn't growing at the rate hoped for, and so the recent introduction of resteem bots and upvote bots is the manifestation of a "take the money and run" exit strategy by people who hold lots of STEEM.

Fatal facts about the blockchain:

(1) Curation is no longer meaningful since it is not 100% human.

(2) The software is not scalable; a brick wall lies across the tracks up ahead.

(3) 90% of new users do not stay.

(4) Facebook has gone from 200 million to 2 billion users in the past 10 months.

(5) Paying people money for engaging with each other in community is inhuman; it turns people into dog trainers (and trainees).

(6) This is NOT a censorship free platform; the arbitrariness of Facebook's "PC Police" is merely replaced by self appointed whale PC Police here; a single whale can obliterate you if you don't have friends among the other whales.

(7) This is NOT an advertisement free platform. People pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to have their posts appear in the Trending list.

(8) When you blog here, no one will read you. It's like speaking for practice in a meeting hall before the audience has been admitted into the room.

That's my perception as a 40 day newbie here. Anyone who can point out where I've got it wrong is welcome to do so.