In yesterday’s post, I went over my initial impressions of Steemit in my first week of actively participating in this awesome community. Although I have never used a lot of social media, I have quickly become a devoted fan of Steemit due to its openness, uncensorship and ever present ambience of positivity. Definitely a stark contrast to the attention-whoring (Facebook), forbidding (YouTube) and covfefe (Twitter) nature of the other so-called popular social media platforms.

Nonetheless, given that Steemit is still only a toddler, there are still some things that can be improved to launch it into another galaxy. Forget calling it the next Facebook – Steemit has the game-changing potential to revolutionize the meaning of the word “community” and unite the entire planet on a platform that is truly of the people, by the people and for the people.

So without further ado, here are my suggestions for making Steemit even more awesome:

Allow users to upload profile photos from their computers

When I first signed up for Steemit, the very first thing I wanted to do was post a picture of myself so that my readers could associate a face with all of my posts. However instead of being greeted by a simple “Browse” button to allow me to upload a photo from my computer, I had to go through the slightly roundabout task of first uploading my photo on a public picture site such as imgsafe.org and then copy and paste the URL for my photo. Of course, this shouldn’t be an issue for those of you who already have photos posted online, but I’m sure there are still many of us with photos stored on our hard drives who would appreciate the option to upload directly from our computer.

Allow users to drag and drop videos into posts

While the task of inserting pictures and gifs into posts and comments is very straightforward (simply locate the file on your computer and drag it into your post), the procedure for uploading videos still has a way to go. Currently, you can only post the URL for your video inside your post or comment and even this sometimes fails to display the video. Thus, we should also be able to drag and drop our videos directly into our posts and comments; this will certainly invite Steemians to include even more videos in their posts!

Create a more detailed and customizable profile page

In its present form, the profile page can be accessed by clicking on your photo in the top right hand corner and selecting “Blog” to launch a page which displays your photo, tagline, number of followers, number of posts, number of people you’re following, your location, website and when you joined Steemit. The process for editing your profile page also isn’t very intuitive since there is no “Profile” button; you have to click on “Settings” instead.

I believe that the profile page should afford the user the option to include more pieces of personal information such as birthday, hobbies, etc. as well as the option to post more photos, such as a header photo and other albums of photos. This will help add an even stronger personal element to Steemit as it will allow you to share even more of your life and personality with your fellow Steemians. I am sure that if we start uploading photos to our personalized profile pages, it won’t be long before we can all peruse each other’s photo albums and upvote our favorite photos for even more curation rewards!

Allow users to direct message one another

It is awesome to see comraderies and new friendships form on comment sections of Steemit posts every day. It would be nicer if we could communicate even further with other Steemians through direct messages. This way, we can continue the conversation we have built up while Steeming and exchange contact information for future hangouts and meetups. And who knows? A direct message can even forge a love connection or two! Move over baby boomers – here come the Steemit boomers!

Allow users to see how many posts, upvotes and SP are needed to level up

Since we have all seen how difficult it is to level up as we continue to rise in Reputation (it’s a logarithmic scale after all), I feel that it would be very useful for users to see how much more they need to post before they can reach the next level. For example, if I am currently on Level 41, I should be able to see the number of posts, upvotes and STEEM Power that I need to get to Level 42 with the help of an informational “Level Up” box on my profile page. I wouldn’t be surprised if this change triggers an even greater rise in the number of posts and upvotes per minute – more STEEM for everyone!

Reward authors according to number of comments and upvotes

My final suggestion is more on the controversial side since awarding all authors solely based on the number of comments and upvotes received by their posts will greatly dilute the power of the whales and make it even more equal for the minnows.

Although I understand that STEEM rewards based on experience can encourage more long-term participation on the network, I also strongly believe that exceptionally well-written and well-articulated posts of our newcomers should immediately be rewarded by the community. I have already seen a few instances where whales have only posted a paragraph (or a single meme) and are immediately greeted by a barrage of upvotes and comments by Steemians eager to be upvoted and receive larger rewards. On the flip side, I have seen some truly wonderful posts by newbies that are left buried on the “New” page only because everyone runs to get a piece of the whale!

If authors are rewarded according to the number of comments and up-votes garnered by their posts, then I think we will see a greater explosion of wealth on Steemit, which will in turn encourage more newbies to produce high quality content and continue contributing on Steemit. For Steemit to truly declare equality for all users, there must be linear rewards!

Let me know what you think about my suggestions in the comments below. Or if you have your own suggestions for a more awesome Steemit, spit it out; just tell me the news, not the weather!

Until next time, keep acing life!