I've been here for about four months now. I originally joined because a buddy of mine is friends with Ned and since he knew I was into crypto, he introduced us. So, I wrote my #introduceyourself post and began using Steemit to keep myself accountable for a side project I was working on. Fast forward a few months, I'll admit I caught the "money bug" and I began posting shit hoping for that viral post. Little did I realize those viral posts ADDED content and were meaningful, thoughtful posts. So, I changed. I began to write seemingly random, but meaningful posts about things that a) I thought others might find interesting, like my trip to Australia last summer or b) might help someone, I wrote a tutorial on how to setup a Raspberry Pi Security Camera. From here I began to gain traction. I developed a solid REAL community of friends on Steemit who had a genuine interest in the real, unique content I created. Now, I am working on a Steemit project, hoping to become an even more active member of the comunity.
So, I totally agree with much of what you said about the changing community. I especially agree with:
But now we have more and more people joining up who don't really care if steemit succeeds as long as THEY succeed. There seems to exist the false belief that steemit is a get rich quick scheme, and a lot of new users don't realize it's actually an investment.
Now that I am a wiser Steemian (or at least I feel that way) I see many people falling into the trap I did. While I cannot blame them, I think this IS the reason for that negativity you are seeing.
Cheers!
We're just in this really weird transition phase when cryptocurrency is becoming really popular, yet most people don't know what it is or understand it! So there are so many misunderstandings about it that I think, you're right, give rise to the negativity and frustration. Hopefully a little education with smooth things out!