It is all about the applications.

Things keep rolling out at an unbelievable pace.  We are seeing updates and additions all the time.  This should excite every Steemian because this adds to the ecosystem.  Each day, Steem gets more valuable because it offers more.

We are all familiar with @steempress.  Just a week ago, they announced their new 2.0 version which made their application a two-way interface with WordPress websites.  This allows not only for posts placed on those sites to be forwarded to Steem but also the comment and reward system integrated into those sites.

The other day, they announced a couple of updates to their application.  Their first improvement is the addition of a slider bar for upvotes.  This is vital since few want to upvote everything at 100%.  Now, people can choose the different weights they want to vote a comment or post at.

Another feature they added is a Word Limiter that enables one to post only an introduction of the original post.  This is crucial to those who have pay sites and do not want their content on Steem for free or because they are concerned about SEO.  Either way, this is now possible.

There are a few other items added that are explained in their post.

https://steemit.com/steempress/@steempress/steempress-2-1-update-voting-slider-word-limit-and-synchronized-updates

![image.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmNxdozgF1keRTdJEEhuSu7qbnrpTTu9RChtHoJha4jZ1W)


@oracle-d announced a very interesting project.  They teamed up with ASPEKTI to create a National Blockchain Institute in Indonesia.  The idea is to offer education of blockchain throughout the country in an effort to increase blockchain adoption.

>This collaboration is a major milestone for INDONESIA, Oracle-D and STEEM Blockchain since we are going to be involved in the creation of first ever National Level Blockchain Institute in the world.

We still are at a point in time where most people are unfamiliar with blockchain and cryptocurrency.  Education is a big part of moving the industry forward.  Including Steem in a national level endeavor is a major step forward.  This will help to garner a lot of publicity, not only for blockchain but, also, Steem itself.

https://steemit.com/steem/@oracle-d/oracled-and-aspekti-sign-mou-to-create-national-blockchain-institute-in-indonesia-history-in-the-making

Finally, we have a new interface that is coming out.  This is one that will not only have a desktop app but also mobile.  This one is centered around pictures.  The idea is that, in the attention economy, people have very short attention spans.  This application looks to cater to that.

@liketu focuses on pictures, tagging, and words.  The idea is to have more than a simply picture by taking the metadata to an enhanced level.  This way, pictures are no longer just pictures but a resource center for what is contained therein.  The idea is to help businesses help their brand by providing enhanced metadata with their pictures, leading to more traffic finding them.

They look to enhance the data with just a couple clicks.  It is an important point as people are not going to spend a lot of time on things.  The Internet is fast moving and social media the same.  To attract the masses, things need to be quick and simple. 

That is what @liketu is seeking to do: create a quick and simple system that enhances the data that is tied to pictures.

https://busy.org/@liketu/introducing-liketu-a-new-way-to-experience-the-steem-blockchain

These are just a few of the developments that came out in the past few days.  I keep writing about these things because this is where the value if going to come from.  We cannot attract the masses if we do not have anything that interests them.  As much as I love blogging, that is not the majority of the Internet.  Having applications outside of that is vital if we are going to gain mass appeal.

Judging by the different development teams tied to Steem, that is exactly what is taking place.

It is a good time to be a Steemian.

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Picture from article linked.