I've been a passive member for a while in the Steemit community, after having joined in February and, after experiencing the platform for a while. I mainly come on to try to curate posts and then, go back to my daytime software projects and job-hunting business.
Hardfork 20 has come and gone, is tested and implemented. I noticed a few changes, and will like to seek the opinion of others on what they've noticed so far, with respect to the changes in the community. The aspiration of Steemit Incorporated is that the new changes create a more conducive atmosphere to reflect the objectives of the platform. Do you think these objectives have been met and/or improved upon, or do you think Steemit has failed and these changes are not needed and/or unhealthy for the platform?
Here are my few observations:
Hide Resteems / Show All
A new function has been added to users' homepage (or blog page). This function allows the user to hide the view of resteemed posts on the page. To reverse this effect, when user clicks on the Hide resteems function, the view toggles the letters to display the Show All function (as an alternative to Hide resteems which is available when users log in, per default).
When a user applies the Hide resteems function, only authored posts from other users can then be displayed as resteemed posts are immediately filtered out of view. This allows users more control of their account (view).
Platform-User Interactivity
Platform-user interactivity has heightened. On certain views (especially mobile), tabs and bars are used to carry messages about the state of the application. One of such messages on my mobile phone says, HF20 Update: Operations Stable, click here. It is displayed as a bar on the topmost point of the platform's user interface.
A cross-section of critics had criticised Steemit founder, Ned Scott for what they perceived as abandonment of the platform, implied from his not blogging on the platform via his account . Whether they consider the platform interactivity modifications satisfying or not, is another question begged.
Platform Data Transfer & Response
I have always used internet across relatively slow networks, allowing me to monitor traffic consistency/integrity and data transfer process with evaluation of relative process efficiencies and resulting system speeds.
Steemit data harnessing and distribution across its blockchain seems to be a bit more efficient. I do not have scientific data to prove this, it is just a conclusion I drew from the look and feel of the website since after hardfork. This might be also due to the controlled rates of data transfer across the community. With a combination of the algorithm that regulates the Voting Power (Mana) and the introduction of Resource Credits, data transfer was bound to be more controlled, thereby creating an atmosphere for improved efficiency in data flow.