it is not about the amount. its about giving back. i think the voting system is great. but you have to have a reputation. without it, its very difficult at the moment to get noticed. i think that we might loose many great writers, as they are frustrated not receiving anything.
i was lucky, and i was early, so i was able to build a little network already, but its hard for many and i see great content often unseen by others.
if many participate, i am sure that we will see great content popping up on Steemit, from writer whom might have left without our little kickstart support ;)
I hope I will help as much as I can. I'm seeing lots of posts with featured articles and I'm happy that this community is built on cooperation.