Dear brothers and sisters of Steem; today I stand before you as a humble servant of the community, reflecting on my time on Steem. It has been nearly four years since I had my first experience posting on the immutable platform that we all have come to know and love as Steem; four years since I tasted the freedom of expression and creativity with the newfound support of my Steem family, with their support always giving me hope and strength to innovate and think outside the box.
Three of those years I served as consensus witness, an honour I am truly grateful for and will remember for the rest of my life. I am not ashamed to say that the day I was voted in, I knelt down with tears in my eyes, the feeling of acceptance and achievement washing over me as I took it all in.
The news of Tron acquiring Steemit/Steem came as a surprise today, leaving me with mixed emotions. I have been known to compare Steem to Binance and Tron, complaining why we don't have an active spokesperson like CZ or Justin Sun, well you know how they say "be careful what you wish for..." we now have Justin as a spokesperson for Steem as well!
On one hand as a business leader I think this is fantastic opportunity, we couldn't have had better media presence and market penetration in the crypto space than what could be possible with the help of Justin and his PR team. I have long been concerned that Steem has started to become stale and needed some upheaval of sorts to become relevant again, this could be it!
As a member of the community and Steem enthusiast however, I am concerned that Steem will lose its core values and meaning, wonder whether our voices are truly immutable or if they have been up for sale all along the same as on all other corporate social media platforms.
I eagerly await the AMA tomorrow to get clarity on what this means for me as Steemian, as the CEO of BuildTeam and as a witness and ambassador of Steem. I am trying to reserve judgement and action until I have the necessary information and wisdom.
In the meantime I pray for the Steem community, that each of you may find peace, knowing we are all in this together and together we have a choice, we have a voice that cannot be silenced, we are strong, we are value!
I pray for Justin, that he may be imparted wisdom to guide our community into the best possible outcome for everyone concerned, that Steem may amplify his voice and allow him to be a force of change for good in the world.
I pray for the Steemit inc team, that they may always love what they do and do what they love, that Steem will become something great, which they have worked hard towards.
I pray for Elizabeth Powell, that she may be granted wisdom to broker peace between Steemit, Tron and the Community.
I pray for the witnesses, that they may always have a purpose on Steem, even greater than what they have today, that they be granted wisdom to know what is right and the fortitude to follow it through.
I acknowledge that Steem went live on independence day in 2016, a symbol of freedom from censorship and de-platforming.
I will stand with the community in whatever choice they are guided to, whether it be forging a powerful TRON future or preserving the Steem way of life separately, or perhaps a combination; no matter what happens, I remain your witness and your servant.
Peace be with you!
Forever in Steem,
@thecryptodrive Steem Consensus Witness BuildTeam CEO
