It's difficult to pinpoint why my engagement dropped off from what it was, probably a combination of things. I was making insane amounts a few months after I joined and I think certain folks just followed and engaged to get my upvotes. That engagement dropped off immediately after the price of Steem feel sharply following SteemFest 1. I was also posting my novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, in installments which got a lot of attention and drew people to my page. I have a smaller circle of really loyal readers now, which I enjoy. I like reading their posts as well.
I don't think Hive has to worry much about competition, we have to focus on making the ever evolving platform better, using it in new ways, and also have someone step up who's willing to manage the growth of it all. Each person who owns any of the Hive currency has a stake in the future of the platform and should realize, we're all ambassadors. This might quell some of the toxic behaviors if people realized when they do this they're only hurting themselves. Adequate leadership is where Steemit always, and very frustratingly, fell short. They mostly relied on the followers to promote the platform and that only goes so far. Even a decentralized platform needs a team of inspired individuals to help manage growth and foster outreach.
Thanks for the follow. Cheers to our collective future!
I came in when Steem was hovering at the all time lows (not that I knew that as I was clueless), but found engagement pretty good considering what I was writing about. This increased over time from about 6 months in when I started engaging heavily myself. I think long form content requires a slow build and that "loyal readership" you enjoy.
The competition is only a problem if we don't grow the space effectively. At the moment, it is fine, but I find the constant tweaking of numbers for the economics frustrating, as there are other things to work on too. Yes, these need to be tweaked - but so does the ease of gamification of user interfaces through the code (as an example).
I think a lot of people (often without much stake) take the negative path as it is the way they can gather the sense of support, as these types tend to group together and stick together.
This is where I see projects (SMTs) will have to step up strongly and become business models. They don't need to promote Hive, they need to get support for their own business/experience in the same way a website doesn't sell the internet.
Thanks for stopping by for the chat :)