I may write a post on this at some point, but for now I’ll just give my initial thoughts here.

The contributions to STEEM that I consider adding the most value tend to be ones to Steemit, simply because it’s the platform I use. Among those posts, I think the most value comes from treating this more like Medium and less like FB/Instagram. Meaning I think long form content and the more meaningful/meaty conversations that can ensue from them offer a special place within social media. I’ve seen other platforms like Minds that go more toward the shallow chit-chat end of things, and while that’s fine, I don’t think that’s the direction I’d like to see Steemit go. I think there’s already more than enough opportunity for that level of interaction out there in social media.

I tend to therefore upvote either longer pieces or short ones that make an important point clearly and concisely. I have people on auto-upvote where I see that they routinely produce only such content, so I don’t want to miss rewarding them even when I can’t be online (given how much I’m in location transition these days).

If you had asked the downvoting question a week ago, I’d have no answer because I’d never down voted anyone, but now I can say that I’ll give a temporary downvote if I think someone is a troll. The negative environment trolls foster can destroy a discussion community, so I take that very seriously. (I say temporary because if they edit their comment to make it meaningful to the conversation, whether agreeing or disagreeing but reflecting having actually read the post, then I’d remove the downvote.) I don’t downvote because I think someone is earning too much, though I understand why some do.

Lastly, the projects I have delegated SP to are curation projects that find content that pretty much meets the standards I listed in #1. Basically I want more serious writers and serious conversations taking place on Steemit and for the growing reputation of the platform for that to attract more and more writers of substance. Many such people will have the money to buy STEEM to increase their effect on the platform and enough enthusiasm for the unique potential of the space to be willing to make that investment.

I think there is a slight barrier that hasn’t been discussed, however. That’s that many of these people don’t already invest in crypto. I think one thing that would really help STEEM would be a way to get STEEM with USD. More education on how to succeed on Steemit is also important. I actually have a $25 course on it that some folks have used toward that end, but there is still a big barrier to them actually buying STEEM because of the complexity of buying altcoins.

One additional point: I think the #1 thing that would help STEEM in terms of the flagship Steemit project doing so, would be for them to get Communities launched. I think it is actually more important than even SMTs, because you don’t want to lose first mover’s advantage when it comes to paid social media platforms, and other platforms having groups already is huge. I don’t think the company quite understands just how important gathering in groups is to people socially. Or how much easier it is to get started with something if you can just join groups right on the platform, not some side platform like Discord. I started on Minds just recently and while there is much I dislike about actual content on that platform, I can’t deny that I knew the ins and out within a few hours simply because I could participate in newbie groups and learn very, very quickly. I could also quickly join groups on topics I care about so find many new followers and posters on exactly those topics. Not pitching Minds, since as I said, overall I don’t really like it, but the group aspect makes it far more attractive to most people due to ease of use trumping all else. Just a thought as to where I think development focus should be to really help STEEM grow in adoption.