<h1><strong>I wish there was an emoji with both a smile & a tear <p dir="auto"><em>because that's exactly how I feel right now... <p dir="auto"><strong>I'm excited... But I'm also pretty sad...<br /> I love Steem. Yes, <em>love, not past-tense. I love the tech. I love the people. I love the concept. But, unfortunately, all of that has been put into the back of a moving van. I want to continue loving that stuff, so I feel it's only reasonable I travel along with that van. <p dir="auto"><strong>Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at the van-drivers.<br /> In fact, I'd like to take the unconventional act of divorcing all anger from this post. What's the point of yelling anymore. Yelling to me has always been a sorta crude tool used in order to achieve something. Squeaky wheel and all that. But that "achievement" is already being fulfilled, so let's take some time off from yelling & just be calm. <p dir="auto"><strong>It is, what it is.<br /> In my personal opinion, DPoS is not a stable long-term solution to governance, <em>in it's current form. That's why part of my new activities on Hive will be fighting for an improved system. I personally get the feeling that Hive will be more welcome to this sorts of changes, hence why I won't be wasting my breath fighting for my opinions on Steem any longer. <p dir="auto"><strong>Censorship is a losing game.<br /> The abundance of technology in our lives has enabled something that we've never truly been able to obtain on a global-scale: <strong>user preference. <p dir="auto">Don't like Facebook? Switch to Twitter. No? How about Minds? Gab? Fuck it, I think MySpace is still around. <p dir="auto">Oh, wait, I get it, you want something personal. A space matching 100% of your ideas. Ok, fine. Hop onto YouTube / Udemy / Lynda / StackOverflow & start learning some code. Next, find an open-source social media codebase ( <em>mastodon is one of many ). Now, build it to your hearts content. <p dir="auto">That's what amazes me about today. I have the power to create the products I want to see in the world. If a platform begins censoring things I want access to, I'm able to pick up & move to a better alternative ( <em>in most cases, looking at you YouTube :/ ). <p dir="auto"><strong>The recent censoring of the Steem platform has made me move to more "open" pastures.<br /> That's not to say I'll 100% never come grazing in these fields ever again. I'll probably hop back in from time to time & just say "Hi". After all, this really just feels like an awkward breakup. I still love Steem, but I don't think I should anymore... <h2><strong>Ah Fuck... I Have To Do That Thing, Don't I? || <em>yeah... I gotta give some shout-outs <p dir="auto"><strong>It's only fair to give thanks to those that made my time here for all these years fun & enjoyable, all the way through the memes & the drama.<br /> <em>Don't get too salty about who's on this list, it's just a list. <ul> <li>Thanks <strong><span><a href="/@berniesanders">@berniesanders, for the chaos you brought. I think I heard your name associated more with downvote-wars than anyone else here. <li>Thanks <strong><span><a href="/@emrebeyler">@emrebeyler, <strong><span><a href="/@yabapmatt">@yabapmatt, and <strong><span><a href="/@stoodkev">@stoodkev for being the type of developers I inspire to be: committed, hard-working, and passionate about their projects <li>Thanks <strong><span><a href="/@whatsup">@whatsup for the <code>DRAMA & the memes :^) <li>Thanks to <strong><span><a href="/@justineh">@justineh for being one of the super kind people on here that's not afraid to speak their mind <li>Thanks to <strong><span><a href="/@theycallmedan">@theycallmedan for showing what true committment & belief is in a platform & community <li>Thanks to <strong><span><a href="/@streetstyle">@streetstyle for hosting the awesome SPUD day events. They are such a fun community-building cause! <li>Thanks to <strong><span><a href="/@enjar">@enjar, <strong><span><a href="/@cadawg">@cadawg, <strong><span><a href="/@overkillcoin">@overkillcoin, & <strong><span><a href="/@bluerobo">@bluerobo for providing quality content, engaing, and overall just being cool people :^) <li>Thanks to the whole <strong><span><a href="/@steempeak">@steempeak team, you're dedication is very much appreciated, and I'm excited to see you on peakd ;^) <li>Thanks to <strong><span><a href="/@ecoinstant">@ecoinstant & <strong><span><a href="/@thecrazygm">@thecrazygm for letting me into the <strong><span><a href="/@lootkit">@lootkit team. I can't wait to build that out into a fully functioning business & make it something truly special. <li><strong>Shoutout To Any & ALL Steemians I've Interacted With & Thank You ALL For Your Amazing Content & Warm Welcomes | <em>I'd have a list 1,000 names long if I tagged each of you! <h5><strong>Literally, just thank you to everyone. Those moving, those staying, those that left a long while ago... <em>I don't even care what side you're on anymore, thanks for making this place what it was. <p dir="auto"><center><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png" alt="divider.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"><center><a href="https://hive.blog"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/k0clUgRM-get-in-the-hive-1.png" alt="getinthehive1.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/k0clUgRM-get-in-the-hive-1.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/k0clUgRM-get-in-the-hive-1.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"><center><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png" alt="divider.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/5gl4OUlI-divider.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"><center> <div class="table-responsive"><table> <thead> <tr><th><center>twitter<th><center>instagram<th><center>main website<th><center>mystery attic <tbody> <tr><td><center><a href="https://twitter.com/StuffBySpencer" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/zUhMs4Ti-Twitter.png" alt="Twitter.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/zUhMs4Ti-Twitter.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/zUhMs4Ti-Twitter.png 2x" /><td><center><a href="https://www.instagram.com/stuffbyspencer/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/koHXKh0G-Instagram.png" alt="Instagram.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/koHXKh0G-Instagram.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/koHXKh0G-Instagram.png 2x" /><td><center><a href="https://www.stuffbyspencer.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/oUTcZxfV-StuffBySpencer.png" alt="StuffBySpencer.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/oUTcZxfV-StuffBySpencer.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/oUTcZxfV-StuffBySpencer.png 2x" /><td><center><a href="https://steempeak.com/@mysteryattic" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/9019gszR-MysteryAttic.png" alt="MysteryAttic.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/9019gszR-MysteryAttic.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stuffbyspencer/9019gszR-MysteryAttic.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"> 💙 💜 ❤️