It's definitely a confusing mindset for people who are new to steemit and/or blogging to understand what "adding valued content" means. Especially someone like myself who came straight over from FB where people sort of regurgitate/vomit words with seemingly no purpose. (Yes, I know, that is not all that is on FB and I was guilty of it, too)
The point is, the common denominator why I see people staying here (if you remove the reward system) is the community aspect. Why do people become members of any community? To learn, help, share, belong, and grow together. Good content, as you pointed out so well in your post @markrmorrisjr, is effective when it communicates those ideals. Well done post, thank you!
Agreed, if we add value, we strengthen that community. Keeping it simple helps us test if our ideas are adding value, or just making noise.