Curator bias also plays a role too. You can make the nicest post all in the world but if you are disliked, it's a tall order to get them to change their minds. It's also not a secret that some users can get noticed faster by being well connected. I don't really put much attention on those parts as these are things beyond my control and it's not worth losing sleep over.
Thanks for your time and input, take care and enjoy the weekend :>