I've been seeing the doom and gloom posts the entire time I've been on Steemit @mazzle. They're not entirely without points, but generally it's people venting emotion and being somewhat irrational. (and of course it's easy to be a pessimist in a bear market as you mentioned!)
Now, I have seen rational explanations of scenarios where STEEM could crash and burn, but most of them are impulsive. People think STEEM = Steemit and forget that this website is only the front end for a rather useful, fully functioning modern blockchain.
Just because Steemit has problems does not mean STEEM cannot be (and is already) a success. In my opinion, the question is "What degree of success will STEEM have?" rather than "What degree of failure?"
I see people mistaking Steemit for Steem all the time as well. In fact, the current post at the top of the trending page - a new dApp called dlike (a great app for generating more spam on Steemit) - makes that error in their post as well.
The Steem blokchain has huge potential in my eyes which is why I am still here. And I like to remain positive about Steemit as well. I think we could very well see a good increase in users when we move back into a bull run.
amen! hopefully, with all the “cash outs” lately steem will balance itself out. ive planned to stick around for the long haul. posting everyday since november. fingers crossed!! thank you for the realistic perspective and hope.