Complex issue, to be sure.
Just from your title, I got to thinking that I have lost my trust in "groups" even more than I previously had (and that wasn't much!) but I have gained more trust in specific individuals. And individuals are ultimately what builds a community.
I lost trust in the idea that a group ("community") could set something up and make it work around a higher ideology than just the lowest common denominator. Steemit has turned out to not really be all that different.
Apologists for the current state of affairs tend to shrug and say "It's just capitalism at work," as if that somehow justifies everything...
With some sadness... my final observation your words is that we live in a world less and less oriented to building things, and more and more oriented to simply using them and moving on... without any significant attention to any destruction their actions may cause.
Meanwhile different apologists for the current state of Steemit like to point out that this was always "an experiment."
All of which adds up to be somewhat counter to what I have always believed was "right action" (both here... AND on many other demised venues I have been part of), namely to construct something solid that could benefit everyone in the long run.
Sorry, ended up waxing rather more philosophical on your post than I had intended, but so it goes!
It isn't over yet and some clever SMTs have the potential to splinter off and create a space that takes the good and deposes the bad of steem. There is a lot to like here but you are right, it is mostly in the individuals, not the larger groups themselves. part of the issue is that the groups are much less so than they claim to be as they too are fractured across multiple platforms and apps. I am still confident there is something here still though.
Maybe the primary lesson we've learned — or are still learning here — is that this ideal of "freedom" and "no censorship" simply CANNOT live without boundaries, given the current state of the human condition. @lukestokes has written about a type of "self-serving altruism" now and then... it is perhaps what we can strive for; systems within which helping others ends up helping us.
The (not particularly good) metaphor I have used is that if I support the local shelter and rehab system, it ultimately benefits ME, because the next homeless drug addict is now a little less likely to break into my place and steal something to sell to support their habit. It becomes a circle of life thing...
But I'm still an idealist; I have hope that these "clever SMTs" can serve as catalysts for more cohesive — albeit smaller — communities that still have some of the original vision for this place.
Thanks for the shout out, @denmarkguy.
Nice post @tarazkp! Upvoted and followed. I think, like any social media system, Steem and Steemit will only be as valuable to you as the people you follow and the communities you build. As mentioned, I've written some related content here and here which you may find interesting. I've also been so bold as to think we may have a path forward to improve the world. I've been on Steem for over two years now and I still see it giving me the same benefits I've mentioned before (relationships, reputation, and rewards).
Thanks for dropping by, it is appreciated. I will give your links a read to. There are many paths forward to improve the world and many more steps to take to fid which ones are actually viable in the long run. I see a split happening where there is a gap between those who are willing to work their way forward and the larger group who are quickly becoming a consumer class only.
At the very least, none of us need have nothing to do for the foreseeable future :)
Enlightened self-interest is what I call it and perhaps if more practiced the world would be better. Perhaps not.