@whatamidoing, you raise enough valid points here that I almost want to respond in a separate post... but I'll refrain... for now!

I honestly cannot envision steemit being much of a healthy community rooted in anything but marketability in the future.

I agree... to a certain extent. Where we get some flexibility is in shaping a "marketable" site that is about individuals rather than "corporate" in its approach.

In the earlier days of eBay-- and eBay was already HUGE-- it was this really cool peer-to-peer marketplace where lots of individuals traded all manners of things under the sun. It was brilliant for collectibles, hobbyists, artists, antique dealers, rock hounds and goodness knows what else. Even with 20+ million users... there was a sense of "community" there-- forums, user groups and other things. Then "corporate" approaches took over... and the whole "being a cool venue" (and a very profitable one, I might add!) gave way to "maximizing the bottom line at any cost." And it became "just another online mega store" with corporate sellers all but replacing the individuals who largely BUILT the site.

On Steemit, we have a decentralized structure. We get to vote for the witnesses who express support (or objections) to changes and hardforks that represent a consensus of the community. UNlike eBay, we get to have a say in what we want this to become. What's ALSO different here is that we have the "investment" (the Steem token) as potentially separate from the cornerstone app... the Steemit social content platform. So our task-- as Steemit citizens-- is to take the actions and vote for the structural changes that make the platform attractive to investors... but without losing character. BE an "alternative." WalMart doesn't NEED a Steemit account... but maybe a local organic farmer DOES. We can continue to support a structure that values what we value... and that makes it unprofitable (the only language "corporate" understand) for certain elements to set up shop here.

Steemit (and attendant apps) are definitely "a new frontier" in doing things... and the onus is on US-- the users-- to protect that, rather than cave in to the idea that "the only way forward" is by becoming "just like THEM," whoever "them" may be.

Yes, "BE the change." Because I pretty much arrived here with zero faith in ANY "content site with rewards," I had no expectations of getting squat from my contributions... and when I did get some rewards and saw others getting rewards... I immediately "set up shop" with a long term intent. It doesn't matter what "this post" or "that comment" might earn... what can I (and what can WE) do today to make sure that there still IS a Steemit, in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years from now.

So that's what many of my "rants" are about. I am supremely tired of watching "short term greed" kill the proverbial goose that lays golden eggs... as I have witnessed across some 50-odd sites, for two decades. Well, with decentralization, at least we have a SAY...