Hi Phil,

I noticed you soon after you joined (more to do with the new Sports commnuity than anything else - why don't you and @httr4life merge with WOX Sports? Stronger together (I know that @httr4life is aware of the community having invited some of the members posting to migrate over)).

As somewhat of a social media/content expert with over 20 years of experience, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

What's your area of expertise? I've read your introduction but it didn't tell me much.

Here was my response, which he (@o1eh) never replied to

Take it easy on @o1eh. He's trying to do too much on Steemit and the bombs landing on his homeland make his internet intermittent so he has to prioritise his activities. Sometimes replies get missed - or in my case, postponed until I have time to think about them properly (better a late, long thoughtful reply than a brief, pointless "thanks").

It's interesting to read your thoughts and how much they align with mine from about 3.5 years ago. I don't think the conversation has changed much since then with many of the same frustrations... which I've learned to "accept".

The "Trending" algorithm and prominence of bot content has always been seen as detrimental and the hope is now that the combined brains of @steemchiller and @moecki have a feasible solution that can be implemented relatively quickly. School summer holidays proving to be a current barrier that will pass soon.

With regards to this, the "investor" argument has always been a powerful one which has always conflicted with the needs of "bloggers". I've probably written about this at some point... I vaguely recall creating some Venn diagrams. Perhaps if you're interested in getting lost in some old content, the "Steemit -> General" section of my posts archive might be of interest. Perhaps this post...? Maybe not.

I don't know where my thoughts are at the moment so apologies if this comment is a little all over the place. As you suggest, there are a handful of users who keep the social element of the platform ticking along - a handful of users who are more interested in the social element than how much their post / comment / interaction will earn them financially. This differs significantly to when @httr4life will have joined where people were joining a "social movement" underpinned by "total freedom" which alternative Social Media couldn't provide - the rewards were a bonus.

I'll also hijack this reply and mention @o1eh and @remlaps - I can't remember who wrote about Google discoverability (probably one in the post and the other in the replies) but this has gone significantly downhill since Communities were created - I.e. the loss in SEO value of the first hashtag being in the URL. You'll find that the majority of Steemit's "Google discoverable" content isn't in a community and has a relevant 1st hashtag. If we want to be better at this (which I know we do), we need non-community content (perhaps even allowing this non-community content to be promoted within a/multiple communities). Something to think about. Aligned with /promoted.

Like I said, apologies for a sub-par reply. It's early here and I'm horribly sleep deprived.

If you'd consider merging your Sports Community into WOX Sports, I can make you and @httr4life admins - I've been searching for people with your expertise for years🙂