Yeah it's definitely a very complex issue. I had heard that about insane payouts in the beginning. I think I read that some makeup vlogger got 15k for one video and everyone went crazy! I definitely don't expect anything to be perfect, and as I said before, Steemit is still in its infancy and DTube even more so. Auto-voting is definitely not a good idea because of the lack of oversight on quality, and even then, quality is a very subjective subject anyway. I see a lot of hate on "selfie videos" like mine, and have even had close friends make snide remarks about my posts getting Dtube attention (not realizing of course how long the writing, filming and editing process takes. Much less the upload time as well, but I digress.)
I definitely think we could use more diverse quality content, but as I have said before, it's a gamble to produce content specifically for Steem if there is no guarantee of success! (It's kind of like the real world in a way, no? haha) There are some short films I have written and would love to do a Dtube exclusive release for, rather than a YouTube release for out Patreon supporters, but we would lose Patreon money if we release on DTube, so it's a scary gamble to take! I mean, Steemit is a crazy wild ride though. It's kind of a thrill getting an unexpected upvote, but certainly not something to be taken for granted, and not at this stage of things. For now, I do my best to juggle my three jobs and hope I don't lose my sanity in the meantime, and maybe one day, I will be able to drop one of the jobs and Steem on full time. Here's hoping! :) Thanks for taking the time to watch! I am actually new to vlogging, but I have been acting and doing comedy for years!