Facebook, Libra coin, mass adoption, disappointment or encouragement and the path ahead.

Hi Steemians,
Here on the Steem blockchain it is a common theme to encourage all Steemians to increase awareness of the Steemit platform via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. The thought is very prevalent that we just need more publicity, a big story, a celebrity user or adoption of the blockchain model by a big famous company. I must admit that after the Facebook announcement I am very encouraged for the long term that we are on the right path.

Facebook announced to the world that it was gathering investors, $100 million dollars pledged per some reports, to launch its own cryptocurrency; Libra. Facebook news releases extolled the many benefits of the blockchain over current systems for tracking money transfers, information transfers and many other data file ledgers in a form more accurate then any ledger in existence. And this cash transfer system would run circles around the worlds banking system and people all over the world would have access to it via their Facebook account.

Well, quite frankly you couldn’t ask for a larger or more famous company to sing the praises of the the blockchain then Facebook, with its estimated 2 billion, yes two billion users worldwide. It was literally a dream come true. Suddenly, Facebook and the Facebook coin Libra coin, has told the world about cryptocurrency and the blockchain and legitimized it in a way we had always hoped for, but it went beyond the wildest dreams. Facebook wasn’t just saying the blockchain was superior to the existing bank system ledger technology, and they were not just saying it’s faster and cheaper. But they were saying it’s so good that, we are going to make our own version and put it inside Facebook. It so good that we found 100 investors to put 100 million dollars US into the project, or some similar astronomical amount of cash.

Many American News Outlets began writing stories about the new technology called the blockchain, decentralization and immutability. It was a glorious moment. It was a magnificent moment. But some here were disappointed that the price of Steem didn’t go up. But price is a very complex thing and news is just one component, especially when the news is not directly about Steem. Other say that it was no big deal because Facebook users didn’t start abandoning Facebook for Steemit. I think that is an unproven statement. We are onboarding new users everyday. And considering that half the planet uses Facebook, odds are that some of them are Facebook users, after all it is not necessary to abandon Facebook to join Steemit and I think there is value in having these people be the bridges between Facebook and Steemit. Lastly, the world media didn’t start writing stories about Steemit or our tribes as the newest and best way to communicate in the social media universe, but we were the topic of several news articles about our HardFork and the changes with the DAO which were apparently very news worthy. My point is we didn’t get kissed by a princess and turn from a frog into a prince, but there was still a lot of positive results from the increased news and more importantly our project creators and developers here continue to make great improvements here and generate our own news or buzz!

I think even though the Facebook Libra situation is like a dream come true endorsement for the blockchain. But I think we need to understand that the road to becoming the crypto Facebook or whatever each of us envisions Steemit to be one day is a long one. I think @khaleelkazi said it best in his podcast “Cryptoadoption is farther away then you think”. Using cryptocurrency is like using computers before the Graphical User Interfaces called Microsoft Windows or Apple OS were developed. Only a few educated or self trained people who were willing to put up with the complexities of DOS or computing by inputting code used computers. The rest of the populous was uninterested. Then Windows was developed and the Apple Macintosh was developed and mass adoption followed.

Steemit, Steem-Engine and the Tribes are wonderful. But those of you out there reading my blog are part of a smart, hardworking and tenacious group of people willing to jump through hoops and put in the time to learn this system. You are statistical outliers, rare members of the general population who use new technology, no matter how difficult to use it is...

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. On boarding new users and helping existing users is a prevalent theme when you look across communities on Steemit. Applications and Tribes are embracing old members and onboarding new members. A group called Steem On boarding is still hard at work making the transition from Facebook to Steemit easier. Wonderful technological advances like side chains, cross blockchain transactions, Hivemind, MIRA and other impressive software, hardware and other innovative blockchain strategies are being developed and deployed.

I think this is one of the most exciting times on Steemit in the 1.5 years I have been here, and I read articles from people who have been here twice as long as me, and they say the same things. The future here is still bright, but I think the path ahead will be winding road, with dips and turns. But I use this platform daily and I read the news about all the developments and I think the changes I have seen, be they “good, bad or ugly” are part of our evolution or growth, which is always painful and at times confusing. But as long as we stay involved, vocal, exchange ideas and criticize carefully and thoughtfully in a constructive manner; treating people how we would want to be treated, I think we will see greatness here.

✍🏼 by Shortsegments.