I don't think the concept is flawed, it's just that it shoudln't be advertised as a blogging site to make money. This is probably the biggest mistake they've made which they can still rectify.
Steemit should be a social media site just like facebook with options to make money. Basically like games on facebook . Steemit should be like a social media site with many funny ways to make real money ( blogging being one of them) but you could have surveys,games,helping people with questions,predictions markets,etc...
That would require more than just changing advertising (which they have never really done to any significant degree anyway). It would require greatly changing the UI and the entire web application which is currently very blogging-oriented
That said, there are other people working on different applications to work on the same blockchain, so maybe one or more of those will get it more right. That is my biggest hope for any kind of recovery at this point.
To me the main reason people leave the site is
-the price decline, users have less rewards than they were used too
-the non social friendly site, no friend suggestion,no way to PM people, UI is too basic with no social media option
- lack of ways to earn rewards/ there are some people who tried blogging but never received any rewards, those people should be able to find alternative ways to earn.
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Pretty much agree, in principle, although the growth stalled even before the rewards had dropped much, if at all, so I don't think that is a major factor. Not having alternatives to blogging is a major factor. They are coming though, just not from Steemit Inc.