In doing so I have to admit that in its current format, the Steemit user interface is sadly lacking in the sorts of features demanded by a mainstream social media audience.
I absolutely agree with that and I have not seen anyone addressing these points so far.
At the moment Steemit looks like a new website with basic blog functions but without the nice extras.
Something else I found: On Wordpress, for example, you can simply browse through plugins and install the ones you like on your website.
After setting them up they will be visible on the website. The developers could do the same thing for Steemit.
Create a menu link with all the plugins, apps & extra websites, like a directory.
On Twitter, you also had the option to direct message someone and chat with them. That option does not exist here.
And if one says "no that would result in too much spam" then you can simply mute them or disable your chat.
But there are many more things that could be improved here.