Steem Think Tank: User Survey About Steem [RESPONSE]

As I checked out my feed this morning, I came about this interesting survey invite by @midlet.

Actually there were three aspects that caught my attention about this post, in that order:

• that the owner wanted to bring his very young community to life and practically pays to promote, without using bidbots, but authors who actually also contribute to the community -- ok model, in my opinion
• the reward itself
• the survey, which makes me think about or remember certain aspects about Steem

Let's get on with the survey then.

How long have you been using Steem?

Since January 2018. My second steemversary will be soon.

Where are you in terms of SP? (Plankton(0-500SP), Minnow(500-5000SP), Dolphin(5k-50kSP), Whale(you're probably not a whale, if you are you know what a whale is))

I'm a small dolphin.

Where are you in the world? (Just Country)

Romania.

What brought you to Steem?

Not what. Who. @jongolson. He kept writing about Steem, and after a few emails I decided to check it out and see for myself what it was.

What was your first impression?

It was the most advanced anything I saw on a blockchain, accessible to the regular person. The social aspect made it this way. The numerous guides, people you could ask (publicly) and receive an answer etc.

I didn't have any issue with my sign up process either. What for others was weeks, for me was only 2 days.

And being a geek myself, I understood rather quickly how Steem works. There are still things I only understand theoretically and partially. I never had a seed or witness node, nor did I code anything on the blockchain.

How do you feel about the current state of Steem?

The economics is and will always be in an unstable equilibrium state, which always needs to be in check. Currently it seems to be a rather good balance, compared to the past.

Development is good and have been improving in major areas. The first half of 2020 will be critical. We could use a little more "depth" (more devs, more solid applications, SPS more permissive?).

I have positive feelings about the price of STEEM. Looks like, if we'll keep these price levels for a while, we will have a VERY STRONG bottom, from where to grow when the market turns (or even sooner, if our products will be raving successes).

Coordinated marketing, onboarding and retention are relatively weak, with a few exceptions.

How often do you use Steem applications/websites/etc?

Daily.

What is your favorite Steem Application and why?

I use multiple apps. In some cases I'd prefer to exist alternatives. Certainly I believe all apps still need to evolve. Ease of use should be a priority for more adoption, even before new features.

I use SteemPeak a lot. I started by using Steemit, like most people. Then I migrated to Busy, then to SteemPeak after I saw they stopped major updates to Busy. Occasionally I still use Steemit or its clones for tribes, but mainly I prefer SteemPeak, because I have the all-in-one-place feeling there.

On mobile I use eSteem app, because Partiko dev and owner seems to have a different focus right now.

As a tool SteemWorld is my preferred.

Splinterlands is the game I play the most (enough to complete the daily quest).

Actifit app I use whenever I still post my daily stats. For anything else I use their website.

Of course Steem-Engine is one other site I use often. For some time I use the 2.0 beta version instead of the main site.

What’s your favorite thing about Steem?

In the corporate world, I always appreciated the companies where employees hold a big piece of the company, maybe even all. They are directly interested to work harder, better, smarter, to make their own holdings more valuable.

Steem is something like that, and more. Because it has decentralization, it has no single point of failure, no censorship, and "boldly goes where no one has gone before". And yes, I'm a Star Trek fan.

What’s your least favorite thing about Steem?

Widespread flag wars! Not casual downvotes. They do a lot of harm to Steem, when they happen, especially in the ranks of new arrivals, who haven't experienced anything like that before and take it personally and as a wave of negativity many will want to avoid.

How difficult/easy would you say it is to use Steem?

Much easier than when I arrived in January 2018. And when I arrived it was much easier than in March 2016, when Steem blockchain first started, or even than a few months later when steemit.com was launched. But still difficult for the regular user who is used with applications and social media with years of history before Steem and the advantage (for the speed of development) of centralization and in some cases, following paths already paved by others before them.

As @ roadscape said: "first mover disadvantage". But if it starts to catch on the masses, then we'll see the first mover advantage.

Would you recommend Steem to family/friends/coworkers? If no why not?

Not to family yet. I don't think Steem is ready for them or they for Steem. I did bring a few people to Steem though. Unfortunately inactive now.

What do you wish you could do with Steem that you can’t currently?

Experience a bull market.:D I joined when the bear market started. I bet that would solve many of the 'problems' we think of today.

What excites you most about Steem?

The core community which is here regardless of anything. The huge divergence between price and the unrealized potential.

What worries you most about Steem?

That the price of STEEM / SBD seems to have slowed down development, all while more devs are needed to get things done quickly enough and without serious bugs.