I joined Steem at the end of January 2018, just after the hill -- or should I say mountain -- crest, price-wise.
We've been down the mountain ever since, but maybe, just maybe it's another peek we blurry distinguish at the horizon, and we started to slowly climb it.
Funny thing is that I "clearly remembered" I joined on the 29th of January, but the blockchain evidence states otherwise: my main account was created one day later, on the 30th of January.
I share the position of being at least 2 years old on Steem with 353,012 users, according to Steemitboard.
But I have the 696,709th account created on Steem. That's a bit puzzling: if there were 696,708 accounts created on Steem before mine, why is my account part of a much restricted crowd? Does that have anything to do with recent activity - as in users still active?
Anyway, that stat says I'm roughly in the first 25% early adopters of Steem. That's not bad! I wonder how someone who is in the first 1,000 Steem accounts and still active feels about it...
While I started by mentioning the price, other aspects on this blockchain were much more important to me, and kept me going despite the crypto winter or the lost users, or the various types of abuse and fights.
Despite all the problems, the Steem blockchain is designed to be resilient and much easier to scale than others. And of course, it's working and usable!
There was and is obvious development going on, much of it flying below the radar, which in the early adoption stage and with all the ease-of-use problems, was probably a good thing. But that only works while giants sleep deeply. And they are slowly awakening. When they'll be fully awake, we'd better have more adoption or we'll be in trouble.
Certainly nonetheless, Steem core community is dedicated as well as diverse. That brings us strength, it also sparks debates on various themes, but they are a great way to reach better decisions. Maybe not swifter, but hopefully better.
During my 2 years on Steem I met quite a few people. Many have left, some have returned, others come and go. I have a feeling, like many of us do, they are waiting for Steem to leap forward (especially on price), and many will be back.
Not many are suited to keep going through hard times, but many enjoy the fruits of great times.
For Steem 2020 is going to be intensive. With SMTs around the corner, with Hive communities showing their strength already in content discovery and binding communities together, even before they are fully launched, huge developments expected for Steem-Engine, with SPS funding more projects and Steem Foundation ready to launch their website, just to name a few key elements, we are looking at great opportunities for Steem, if they are marketed right.
Steem on!