Yesteryday, @elipowell and @ned were on the State of Steem with @pennsif.  This was the first time they appeared together publicly on a show like that, at least to my knowledge.

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I must say, there could be some grounds for optimism.  We all are most likely going to be leery of anything said until proven otherwise.  It is well known that Steemit Inc is big on promises yet slow on delivery.  

That said, Eli is pretty much taking over the day-to-day operations of Steemit Inc.  Ned moved to a position where he is now going to be working on the longer term vision of Steemit, including the  @steemalliance.  It would seem to me this is better suited for Ned.

I cannot say what caused the shift in Steemit Inc.  Was it the fact they woke up and looked at the financials only to realize they were experiencing a cash burn (STEEM burn) which would put them under?  Could it have been the threat to fork them out?  Whatever the reasoning, the last few releases seem to offer some hope that they are getting it.

All along, many of us felt that the Steem blockchain has enormous potential.  We still have a ton of barriers to overcome but Steemit Inc being aligned with the community is helpful.  Of course, Steemit is still a centralized entity that is going to look after their own interests first.  Nevertheless, if they are more open to input in coding from the community, that will be a major step.

We will see if they are open to that or if they try to keep all the eggs in their basket.

I will say that there is so many things that a lot of us do not understand or see as the potential with certain applications.  For example, I was chatting with someone yesterday who is very familiar with the workings of Wordpress and a lot of the more advanced stuff there.  Basically, he mentioned how the potential was with the Wordpress Hosting Companies which would completely change the model.  Why get 1 person to use the application when you can get hundreds at a time?

There are dozens such examples going on behind the scenes.  We are seeing businesses starting to evolve on this blockchain.  All are in the start up phase which means they will experience what all start up go through.  However, over time, breakthroughs happen and companies begin to take off.  We ultimately are seeing a shift in the blockchain which makes it stronger.

In monitoring the Witness list, it is easy to see how the applications are becoming more powerful.  They are the ones who are investing the major time and resources into this blockchain.  They are also being rewarded for that by moving up the Witness list.  Many penetrated the top 20 with an assortment spread through the top 50.  These are the ones that are not going to jump shift because an obstacle appeared.

Each week, sometimes in spite of ourselves, we are seeing progress.  Patience still remains key because it is not an overnight process.  We are in unchartered waters.  This is all new.  I feel that patience will be rewarded since the potential is starting to be realized.  

By the way, one of the complaints lodged against this blockchain is that the number of accounts that are not real or are dead is through the roof.  Did you happen to catch the news about the 70 page report which was done about Facebook?  It concluded that roughly half the accounts are fake.  That is a total of about 1 billion users.  

https://www.ccn.com/facebook-billion-fake-account-zuckerberg-con-man/

It is easy to have the view the "grass is always greener" while our lawn is charred soil.  Fortunately, things are not as they always appear.

We could be witnessing the collapse of a company that was viewed by many as one of the most successful in the world.  

And that my friends is called opportunity.

Each day, the Steem ecosystem is getting bigger and stronger.  Perhaps now, Steemit Inc is open to listening to the community which will help this even more.

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