Hi @mikepm74, another SOG member. :) I understand FTG's support to the Dtube/DLive community because you said it best, it is his SP and he should be able to use it to "support the content/creators/tags that you feel most reflect your own values".
I feel the disconnect with this platform is that it is increasingly becoming users (big or small) that have to "step up" and be the ones to use their stake to show support to others. Steemit Inc should be using their stake to support user retention, but there is none given (at least not obvious to me). It is the dapps and friendly whales that are using their SP to support others. I would think support would trickle down to users from owner/management, but it seems it is peer-to-peer support on here.
I think who controls the stake and how they acquired it plays a big roll in the problems with Steem's reward pool. People who see themselves as "investors" separate themselves from the content, and worry only about how to make their stake earn them more money. The obvious answer on that is vote selling, or self voting. So you have these big whales who only care about increasing their own stack, without any concern for what is going on closer to the surface.
The problem is, i is those of us who swim near the surface who really impact the price movement on STEEM as a cryptocurrency. If the entire platform were devoid of good content, and showed no signs of value, then how long would it take for the STEEM token to bleed to zero? Last time I checked, any stake multiplied by zero is still zero. So the Investment Whales need the rest of us... but to this point, few of them have realized that it would pay them in the long term to be quality curators.
Don't get me started on STInc's stake and the use it is or isn't put to.... I could write novels. hahhaa
Have a great one! Keep supporting each other, and the end result will be satisfying!
I agree! With time, comes experience. I always enjoy reading the thoughts of others with more experience on this platform than myself.