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### It's not really a big secret that there aren't many users on steemit currently. 
Don't quote me on this, but I think there are something like 40k active users, give or take a few. While this number was higher in the past, I believe it has remained fairly constant. Some people have argued that this spells bad news for the steemit project (not necessarily for steem, though): most people who have heard of steemit have already given it a try and gave up on it due to some of the inherent problems the project currently faces. 

**But there is in my mind no doubt that the large majority of potential users is still untapped**. Have you ever asked someone if they heard of steem or steemit? Chances are that in your social network some might heard of it (because there is a higher probability of having friends with similar interests), but let's be honest: no one really has any idea about steem/steemit. Surveys are of course lacking, but that figure probably isn't higher than a couple of percent of people *who actually use social media*. 

**So why has no one heard of steem/steemit?** While there are many reasons, the most obvious one in my opinion is that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are still very new to the public (although it's been years now since they are on the market). Apart from a very small minority people still don't know what this is. It is a concept that they have of course heard in the news, but almost everyone doesn't know more besides that. Only a handful of people actually bought cryptos or have a more fundamental grasp of the technology. 

**A good example is a friend of mine.** I knew that she was very talented and could become successful on steemit, but I could not explain to her what steem was. The concept of crypto was so alien to her that when I told her that she could earn steem she asked: and what can I do with it? It's not *real* money. It doesn't go into my bank account etc. In essence, there is still a very large gap between crpytos and fiat currencies for most people and the idea of earning coins is not very appealing to them. This is something that will only change in time and will take perhaps years or a decade(!) to spread into mainstream knowledge. 

**The other large problem is the interface on steemit.** Again, to point to my friend: she didn't know how to use it. steemit.com on a desktop or laptop is a terrible user experience. It lacks most of the basic mechanics of modern social media websites. This is a problem. There are much better alternatives of course: e.g., steempeak.com and busy.org and if people start off with these websites the experience is going to be much better! And of course we have partiko for the phone which makes posting stuff on the steem blockchain so much easier.