RE: On 50/50 for Steem, You'll never believe what the real problem is!!!
Yes, that was long, and yes I read it.
And yes, I'd say you're principally right about the problems we have... but I think we have a much larger overriding problem which is that 90% of the people are are engaged on this platform from a business perspective, rather than a content creation perspective.
Consider these two answers to the question: "Why are you on Steemit?"
"To make money. Which I HAPPEN TO do through creating content."
"To create social content. Which I HAPPEN TO get a reward for."
Although the net result might ultimately sound about the same, the approaches are vastly different... and I have my doubts we can solve any of our woes till to start downplaying the whole to make money angle as the driving motivator for the entire community.
First off, thanks for reading all that. After writing it I looked at it and even I was intimidated.
Anyway, I agree with you on the fact that what you mentioned is a problem. I don't think the solution though is downplaying the earning aspect. I think it's identifying that there will more than likely always be two "classes" here.
The "working" class ie people who primarily earn through authoring posts, and the "investor" class, ie people that earn primarily through curation or delegation.
The secret sauce will be FIRST creating value through the applications here that is useful and valuable without the earning variable, THEN balance these two roles so that both can benefit. That's where the economic changes come in. There may be visual changes that can help with this also. One idea I heard recently was on post rewards for authors, only showing what you will actually get paid vs the author and curator payout that then will get cut once the week is over. Not sure if that would help, but it might.