"If you build it, they will come."
Well, not really. That used to be kind of true, I think. Now, so many people have built so many things that everyone is too spread out. They don't know where to go. They don't know which websites and products are actually the ones they want.
That's where marketing comes in.
Yes, tags would be a great improvement to the site, but that's a basic function that I think needs to be in here pronto.
One great way to market something is to address a problem with it. You could build the one thing that will fix humanity until the sun expands, but no one will know about it unless you find a way to tell people - en masse - in a way that will show them WHY they NEED Steemit. Why they can't live without it.
Not like "here's this cool thing with some of the most awesome world-changing technology built in",
but instead we need something more like,
"Here's a problem that everyone seems to share with a similar technology that is widely-used, but is outdated and boring...and here's how Steemit addresses that problem and improves upon the experience." <----and that is the key thing right there. We need to address the user experience down to the individual mouse clicks. Functionally, the front end needs to be at least on par with the websites that we are taking aim at as direct competitors. Otherwise, it won't matter how awesome the blockchain technology under the hood is.
Developers: "It's got a Porsche 911 Turbo engine that'll take you from 0-60 in approximately 4 seconds."
User: "Okay, but you put it in a Pinto."