<center>http://www.thepokerpractice.com/poker/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/pokerstars-changes.png</center>

After being on Steem for over a year, there have been many changes in the community on their views and opinions on things like what is acceptable, judgment of posts, how the platform should function, etc. 

I have stuck to my beliefs and strategies and they did fairly well for me up until this point. However, the platform is evolving and changes are happening. I am going to have to change and evolve with this platform as well, otherwise, all I'll be left with is change in my pocket.
<div class="pull-right">http://blogbaladi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2015-10-21-Vote-Buying-Matador-4x3-750p.jpg</div>
I have noticed more and more pay-for-pvote bots springing up and it seems a lot of the community and larger stakeholders are going this route by using them or delegating SP for them. 

I slowly started to see a lot of my supporters give less support and I don't have any problem with that. Perhaps maybe I was putting out content that wasn't worthy of support? Or the fact that there are way more people on this platform and it's becoming a fierce competition. Whatever it may be, I am grateful for those that have supported me in the past and up until this point. Makes it worth it to continue blogging and help others on this platform. 

I originally didn't agree with the pay-for-vote bots and in many ways, I still don't. But as I mentioned earlier, the platform is evolving and this is the direction it has headed. IMO it is unfortunate because I believed that **content** and the **content creators** are what's going to give this platform real value. They still do, but the dynamics have changed and I don't really see it as a much of a social media platform anymore and more of what the the Steem whitpaper labeled it as a **"public content platform".**
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXRGaBxtFvtGQAN2SXYNQfix1bAi4pM86Nc4bKNVMPfEB/image.png)
<center><sup>Steem Whitepaper</sup></center>

That's not to say Steem not social media, it still is but it's an evolved form just like other social media platforms. Social media, in general, has changed and it's time for me to change with it.

I haven't upvoted almost any of my own posts since last year but I plan to start along with trying the upvote bots. This seems like the way it's going to be in order to get your content more noticed on the platform other than investing in a large stake and I've come to terms with this.

# Steemfest²

It was nice to see a lot of the same people back for another Steemfest and wish I could have attended but hopefully I can make it to the next one. 

I enjoyed some of the announcements and liked what I heard from @vandeberg and look forward to seeing the modularization of the Steem blockchain. This is such an important improvement that is needed and will lead to more stability, scalability, and features to this platform. If you haven't seen it you can check out the stream and Vandeberg starts speaking around the 46:00 min mark.

https://youtu.be/GF4-2eh8Mxw

I also like the fact that Steemit did the rebranding but I don't like the choice they made with the colors and the logo... But it was great that they explained during the developer panel at  Steemfest² that Steemit is just **ONE** application to the Steem platform. It's important that users can differentiate the two to understand the platform more and see the bigger picture.

Day 2 of the Steemfest² Conference seemed like not much was going on. There was a few non-Steem related stuff being presented. Not going to lie, I stopped watching after the first 30 minutes...


# Zappl

With the launch of @Zappl being a Twitter-like mocro-blogging application, this allows for short posts to earn rewards on Steem and this also changes the dynamics of content on the platform and how they are rewarded. I really enjoy using Zappl and I think it's a great addition the growing applications for Steem. 

Despite some criticism about the usability and the uptime of Zappl, @thedegensloth and the Zappl team have done a great job and have been working around the clock to get the site up, fix bugs, and make improvements to the site. I hear it in @thedegensloth's voice of the lack of sleep he has from working on Zappl so my hat's off to you. I was fortunate enough to have been there when he was speaking on voice a while back and got to listen to him brainstorm the idea of Zappl and now get to use a working product. 

# Moving Forward

Lot's of changes going on but it's good changes that are moving this platform forward. I know Steem will be ready for the masses when HF 0.20.0 Velocity get's released. Along with SMTs being a game changer, communities, and continued growth in applications and userbase, the future looks very bright for the Steem blockchain.
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*Image Sources: [1](http://www.thepokerpractice.com/poker/tag/pokerstars-vip-changes-2017),[2](http://blogbaladi.com/why-is-electoral-fraud-being-treated-so-lightly-buying-votes-is-a-serious-crime/)*

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