What do centralized mainstream social media platforms have that Steemit doesn't have? OK, besides strong leadership, careful planning, and overwhelming greed. Sites like Facebook and Twitter meticulously choose what their users see and in what order they see them. Steemit is in a strong position to capitalize on this tried-and-true method by giving the power back to its users.

Post Order Priority

I've already touched on this topic a little in part 2 but it's time to go a little bit deeper. In short: no one should see posts and comments in the same order. Every account should have a set of customizable variables that determine which posts are displayed first.

There are many reasons why a user might want a post to have a higher priority. Currently, the only variable is stake based. The more money the post/reply made the higher up it is on the list. I feel like I shouldn't have to explain why this tactic is fundamentally flawed. It clearly favors a "rich get richer" scenario.

Variables

Here is a list of possible variables we could use to order posts:

• Proximity (How involved is the user in your personal network?)
  • Is the user a follower?
  • Are you following the user?
  • Are your followed/following lists similar?
  • Have you upvoted/flagged each other in the past?
  • Do you comment on each other's blogs?
  • Are they on your favorites list (doesn't exist yet)
  • ETC
• Counter-Abuse Filter
  • Does the user only upvote themselves and people that upvote them?
  • Does the user pay for upvotes?
• Payout (current system)
  • Account value (is the user a whale/minnow?)
• Time posted (used on our feeds)
• Quantity (have you already seen a bunch of posts from this user?)
• Random (an RNG dynamic will make every post order unique)

I'm sure this list could go on and on but you get the idea. Steemit has the chance to be the first social media platform ever to give its users a say about what content they see first. This includes the feed, hot/trending tabs, and even comments.

Steemit should be employing a philosophy of, "Easy to learn, hard to master." Obviously, we don't want to assault new and inexperienced users with options like this. Clearly, there would be defaults and custom imports. Perhaps you'd like to see Steemit through the eyes of your favorite whale. Priority profiles would be public (just like viewing wallets) and anyone could use it.

If Steemit wants proof-of-brain to actually be a thing, posts must be displayed and viewed intelligently.