There appears to be many people who are still in the conditioned mindset of centralization. 

Let me ask, what do these people have in common:

Elon Musk
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Mark Zuckerberg
Warren Buffet 
Jamie Dimon

They are all faces associated with centralized organizations.  Each person has the name of a company associated with him.  Flip it around, and you get a similar answer.

Who comes to mind when you see these names:

Tesla
Microsoft
Apple
Facebook
Berkshire Hathaway
JPMorgan

It is very common in the centralized world to see individuals identified with companies.  Sometimes, the individual becomes such a big persona that he eclipses the company itself.

Which brings me back to the world of Steem.  We are a decentralized network.  Since that is the case, why do people keep falling prey to the idea of having a "face" tied to our ecosystem?

I see a lot of calls for Steemit to do marketing.  As bad as this is, I come across other posts calling for @ned to get out and start promoting STEEM.  This is a horrible idea.

The last thing we want to have happen is for @ned, or any other person for that matter, identified as STEEM.  This is simply playing into the elite's hands.

We know the power of decentralization is that there is no single point of access.  When people want us to turn to Steemit to handle particular tasks, we are once again creating that single point.  It gets even more vulnerable when we try to put a "face" out there. 

Again, it is very simple: if they discredit the person or company, the entire ecosystem suffers a huge blow.  

![image.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmNkQtuJDzzYMSaj9WcFvcA6fCTBr8TAqQgV3Pr5VnrF5F)
<center>[Source](https://steemit.com/steem/@lukestokes/steem-is-not-steemit-steem-is-more-valuable-than-steemit)</center>

STEEM is not Steemit.  And it certainly is not @ned.  It is much bigger than either.

@ned speaks for Steemit, a private company and a stakeholder in the Steem blockchain.  However, he does not speak for the community.  The second one is put out there making the rounds, that is when the masses will start to equate STEEM with a single individual.  

There is enough confusion as it is.  Even some seasoned people on here use the term Steemit when they mean Steem. 

Last week I brought up the point on the chat of Crypto Connie's @bluerocktalk show about not having Steem represented in the Bitcoin Dynasty.  Her response was to call it Steemit like she always does which is misleading her viewers.  She also said that she would love to get @ned on the show.  

Once again, someone who supposedly is in the know who thinks @ned is the one to talk to about Steem.

Personally, I have no malice towards @ned.  From the few videos I saw of him, he is a fine speaker and could be a great representative to be out in front.  However, in our battle against the centralized institutions, the last thing we need is a centralized point of access i.e. a face for them to attack.  It is also misguided to think that @ned would express views of the ecosystem.  He is CEO and represents Steemit.  That is what he will promote.

Steem is fortunate in that it is quickly becoming an application-centric blockchain.  It is marching ahead of most other systems in this regard.  In an updated for October post, here is a list of the top 5 blockchains with working products.

The first one listed is Steem.  Here is what it had to say:

>Steem is the cryptocurrency that powers Steemit, a decentralized social media platform that incentivizes user participation through micro-payments. A great comparison of the Steemit site is Reddit with a very evident distinction. Instead of upvotes and downvotes, users encourage participants through micro-payments with Steem.
 
>Steem also works exclusively on the Steemit platform which gives it uniqueness but also limited use outside of the platform. The last point of limited use is contradicted with Steemit boasting a few hundred thousand users and content reaching thousands of dollars worth of Steem.

https://medium.com/theblock1/top-5-working-products-in-blockchain-updated-october-2018-9b18548bf8fc

Leaving aside the numbers being somewhat off, notice how this piece articulated Steemit where it really should be Steem.  Nevertheless, the point is that we do have working applications with people using them on a daily basis, Steemit being one of them.

I have no problem with @ned out promoting Steemit much in the same way as if @heimindanger starts promoting @dtube.  Developers and people from those projects promoting what they are doing is a great idea.  However, they speak for their specific applications only.

Of course, I am well aware that Steemit is more than just an application, they also do the development for the blockchain itself.  That said, they do not implement anything.  This is up to the Witnesses.  Ergo, we see another group of people who are able to promote the blockchain.  Many of the Witnesses do a fine job in an interview setting talking about what is going on with this blockchain.  In fact, many of them are involved in Steem-based projects themselves.

This is a very important point that I think needs to be driven home.  We need to decentralize as much as possible.  While some things might take some time, it is not wise to start calling for Steemit nor @ned to do more with marketing or publicity.  They are only going to promote Steemit, which they should.  That is where their responsibility lies.

One of the biggest problems I have with the mindset many have is because it is ingrained in us to make sure we have someone to blame.  Steemit and @ned are targets.  Even though this is our blockchain that we are responsible for, let's us make sure we have a whipping post for when things go bad.  Too often I saw posts such as "@ned needs to do something about ________" like he is overseer of Steem. 

That mindset is not of decentralization.  It is nothing more than putting daddy in charge since we are not accustomed to taking care of ourselves.

I was happy to see @ned's comments about designing another interface, one that includes a completely different corporate structure.  Personally, I do not care if he starts 50 different companies, each creating a different application.  In fact, I hope he does.  The more that is on this blockchain, the better it is for all of us.

What I do not want is more consolidation, especially in the minds of people.  We need to promote the idea of decentralization and this starts with our message.  

<center>![image.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmNrPWD8f3WuxNpqrn3dLemgS6ZTLNa56dV4obuCqnBMiE)
[Source](https://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/locals-are-in-the-picture/2595830/)</center>

Actually, it starts with our mindset.  

The face of STEEM is all of us.

We should promote it that way.

For a great reminder about this, here is a wonderful article by @lukestokes.  It should be required reading for every Steemian.

https://steemit.com/steem/@lukestokes/steem-is-not-steemit-steem-is-more-valuable-than-steemit
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