Well more than three years now in my crypto journey, and year and a half with Steem :)
I get your point with the stories, but the fact is that whales moves things around ....
For example with Steem .... why is nobody receiving funds from the SPS .... because of two or three whale votes with 3 to 5 million SP ... not because of 100 dolphins vote.
On the other hand whales go where the users are ... so its like chicken and egg situation :)