Funny you should write about this today...
Earlier, I was pondering how the precise reason I got out of the business of being a "technical writer" in the IT industry was precisely that everyone wanted me to be a coder, not a writer. Sure I got decent enough at coding web pages-- it was part of the gigs-- but soon enough it seemed like the requirement for "writing" gigs (I worked as a contractor) was really 90% coding and 10% creating content. And I recognized that I had sold out...
I'm a writer, not a coder...
I ended up in usability and human factors for a while... and made it onto the "most hated" lists with developers for being that annoying person who would take "perfectly elegant" code and insist that it actually needed to DO something "real world users" would adopt. The GALL!
So yeah... from where I'm sitting, one of the things Steemit could use is more people who can explain to the devs how "real people" (aka non-technologists) actually use the web. As I try to get more people to try Steemit, I keep hearing that it's "too complicated." Elsewhere, things are a drag and drop widget driven system... not so much here.
Thanks for a thoughtful post!
Interesting. With all that I said, I forgot to mention that I never thought Steemit was too complex, MAINLY BECAUSE I WAS ALWAYS ON IT. I viewed it as the new amazing place that I was going to crack........one mysterious thing led to another, and I remember thinking it was great. I do remember when I had to teach myself Markup even to make a post, and I thought that was a bit absurd. But i just sucked it up, and learned Markup.....I guess people who have never done any coding or anything computer related would find it all too complicated, but I saw it as a challenge, and something interesting.
Personally, I never found it "complicated" since I used to code web pages; I create all my posts in HTML, but I did think it a bit "weird" that a 2016 social site would not be all "slick and modern."
My concern was more about what it might mean for "mass adoption;" will those who expect "plug and play" be disappointed and leave. Hopefully not... and I expect true mass adoption is probably 2-3 years out, anyway... so the interface will undergo many changes between now and then.
i am enjoying its simplicity now. facebook is getting way too full of stuff we don't need.
I ended up spending most of my "professional" career as a computer production artist.......sitting for hours obsessing over vector paths.........then carpal tunnel set in.......