Great post and info. Personally, I'm ok with all this, as there needs to be some centralised control, but we all have vested interest in improving the platform obviously, so it will move forward.

There is a few things that will have to happen in order for a blog platform to be completely decentralized. First and foremost, it will not be a centralized and controlled dot com. Just the domain name alone raises a red flag because a .com can be seized by the US government without any due process. It’s happened before, and it will happen again. If SteemIt violates even the most basic rules which are all bendable of course they are toast. So, with that in mind a truly decentralized blog platform is going to contain a decentralized domain name not a dot com.

Second thing that I am not sold on is how comments and blogs can be edited after they have been submitted. Ok maybe I am missing something or do not understand the implementation here, but it seems that all our content is stored in regular SQL databases and the actual currency runs alongside the application in parallel. If our content was stored in a blockchain then it would be unchangeable.

And third flag is how spam is being controlled. Where is the excessive spam, porn and other unwanted nonsense? See this is where things get interesting with blockchain because it’s hard to stop spam unless some kind of central authority is screening or organizing the incoming data before its added to the blockchain. Otherwise it’s probably just going into a SQL database and getting flagged as spam because people vote it down.

Finally, USA is not proving to be a blockchain friendly country. The regulations alone are already pushing developers overseas. Americans may want decentralized platforms but truly decentralized platforms are not going to be accepted in the United States.

I would like someone to write up a tutorial how to start mining Steem or how to host part the Steem blockchain. We can decentralize by participating! I could be less lazy and look it up myself but I am a n00b to the concept of mining cryptocurrency.

Interesting post, congratulations.

Pretty much on the same line with you. As a former witness I can very much relate to the illusion of "stakeholder" and "ownership".

Not truly surprised as I had discovered some of this the day Dan announced his resignation.   Prior to that I didn't realize how much gatekeeping ability they had due to that hitherto line in the license.

Interesting post @cryptogee, you have a new follower. I wrote an article you might like called; [“Hi and Welcome to Steemit!”… “Err, what is Steemit?”… An Interview with Steemit.](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dylan007/hi-and-welcome-to-steemit-err-what-is-steemit-an-interview-with-steemit). If you have a mo I'd love to know what you think? Many Thanks, @dylan007.

So what should we do?

I had a pretty good handle on who really owns and controls what, but good to see it all laid out clearly for everyone to read.

Steemit will ultimately be replaced by a future version of steemit which will be quite different.  Steemit is adaptable and the dev team can do the adapting.  Add some marketing and steemit 2019 will look quite different from steemit 2016.  Steem on!

yes, @ned said one time that if you put a video in dtube that infringe copyright , they could erase it.  That is not blockchain for everyone nor uncensored blockchain.

Hey CG,

Hope you're well. I think you're mistaken on this one. I'll writing my perspective on this in post shortly.

In theory, one could write a clean-room implementation of steemd that follows "the protocol".  Certainly would like to see the license change though.

@cryptogee great analysis ... I just posted an article about things I would like to see change on the platform, totally missed this one. I couldn't agree more with what your saying, I would love to see a social network without a centralized governing body. The community should take this role! Thanks for sharing!

excellent piece.

I'd expect some people to get in a fuss because it's not fully decentralized - which could be reason for really thinking about why decentralization has been epitomized as *the* favorable ideology.

interesting, having thought about it like that - there's been such huge push in this crypto space for decentralization as the end-all-be-all - though how is such a one-sided extreme statement any better than total centralization? at the end of the day, they're both extreme ideologies on contrasting ends of the spectrum - neither better nor worse than another really, just different states of form suitable for different points in evolution - the *ultimate*, perhaps being a harmonious balance between the two...

I'm not surprised at all. Steemit is like the MySpace of the blockchain. There are new platforms ahead like yours.network and other social media to come.

Hum. :(

You seem to be conflating the STEEM currency or the Steem Blockchain with a specific piece of open-source software developed by Steemit, Inc.

Steemit Inc does not own the blockchain, nor do we control it.

This post contains many basic factual inaccuracies, and I encourage those of you who voted for it to re-evaluate your voting criteria in the future.