Any idea as to why there were no other documentation updates to this regard? No updated white paper. Nothing updated at
https://steem.io/ at all to reflect this change. Nothing here on BCT either (until now). And the blog you posted isn't even noted here on the OP or on the website.
There is a project ongoing by Steemit to update/replace the white paper. They have been working on various fronts to scale up their resources as the coin and platform has become more popular, but there are many different demands. I don't know when there will be an updated white paper.
Thanks for that response. Being who you are, an intelligent, reliable, and very generous contributor, I'd like to pick your brain a bit more if possible.
The thing is that when you do a google search for "steem scam" the entire first page of results that comes back is all scam related, from BCT, to the Stack Exchange, to Steemit itself! The accusations run the gamut, and while my concern was the business model, I mention this in an effort to set the stage regarding some of the overall challenges those responsible for Steem are facing - more than a few and not exactly of minor import - and to give some background in the hopes of validating to a certain degree my next question.
That's a bit unfair. If you do a google search for just about anything followed by the word scam you will get similar results. (Which does not necessarily invalidate the many scam accusations that have been made against Steem. Make up your own mind about those.)
Are those who are responsible for the day to day functioning of Steem volunteers or salary employees?
1. There are some people, including the main developers, who work as employees for Steemit Inc. They are presumably getting salaries (but their salaries aren't public so I have no idea).
2. There are some people who are voted in by stake/coin holders as witnesses who run servers that validate the chain, sign blocks, and act as trusted oracles and policy makers to support the SBD peg. These include 20 primary witnesses and an unlimited number of backup witnesses (literally anyone with any vested STEEM can vote themselves in as a backup witness). They are paid directly by the blockchain.
3. As with any open source coin project, a lot is done by unpaid community members.
The fact that a major overhaul of the business model was kept under raps on a blog that is neither posted on Steem.io, or any other social media where Steem is represented is troublesome. That blog post was from 7 months ago, and nobody's had time to update anything? Just put a link to the blog post right underneath the white paper on the Steem.io website? We're talking about a major overhaul of the business model! As I said, it's troublesome, especially from a competence point of view. Wouldn't you agree that at minimum we can say that it doesn't project a very professional image? As I said, this is by way of providing some justification for what some might consider a trolling type of question. (Some confuse good business and common sense with other things . . . and I can't say that I am not empathetic to their misgivings and misunderstanding having seen what I've seen here over the years.)
Those are fair criticisms. I will pass them along.
I'm trying to wrap my head around how a change of this magnintude for an organization of the size and scale of Steem could have be relegated to a somewhat obscure blog post whose hyperlink is nowhere to be found on the official website nor any other social media where Steem is represented.
My opinion and speaking for no one, I think people can easily get caught in a bubble. They spend all day paying attention to Steem and don't realize that others don't, even those who may have some interest in Steem. As such, they then feel that posting on Steem itself is good enough.
