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Yes. Steemit is just another app on the Steem blockchain.

@ned was given the keys to Steemit to try and push Steemit forword.

SMT's or steemit

SMTs are tokens on the Steem blockchain. They are, in effect, a currency (or subcurrency) unto themselves. They derive their value from Steem. SO Steem failing wouldn't be good for them. Right? Anybody feel free to correct me if I am understanding that wrongly.

No. SMT's are built on the Steem blockchain. SMT's doing well will improve Steem token value.
SMT's are a simple onramp onto the Steem blockchain making it very easy for others to monetize comment sections or build their own platform.

What this means is there is HUGE competion right around the corner for Steemit. SMT's are bring the competition in a wave.
This is why it's bullshit that @ned is the leader of Steemit and he created SMT's. His lack of effort into Steemit is directly correlated to the fact that he knows it will die soon.

He is morally obligated to give steemit a fighting chance against the competition, or step down from his throne. Lead or get out of the way.

Don't lead. Create competition. Then sacrifice all your lowly followers to the competition you created.

Ok, I get what you're saying now. I misread at first that Ned was trying to kill Steem (not Steemit).

I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, the official steemit pages seem to want you to go to or develop competitors. If they were serious, they could have implemented changes like stuff that's on the "steemit more info" (for example) tool a long time ago. But they seem to openly acknowledge competition and seem to say, "If you don't like our features, maybe these guys will make it better for you. No business trying to improve its chances for prosperity does that.

So you're saying Steems not in trouble. I think you should make that more clear.

My main issue with Steemit is similar to your own although I don't like that it's so easy to censor someone into oblivion. In many ways it's more of a potential problem than it is on something completely centralised as Youtube.

For me some simple rule changes would make this a lot less serious, like not allowing one whale to be able to flag someone and overppower dozens of others.

that's a good point. I hadn't thought of making the flagging weights more distributed...

Steem is not in immediate trouble. Longer term EOS is aiming to be direct competition. It will be interesting to see how it plays out since EOS now has a big grudge against Steem.

Cheers