I totally agree with you. I think the low quality thing comes from what can be found on the trending and new pages. It is pretty difficult when you first come to Steemit, to find the thriving, creative, vibrant communities that are here. There's a lot of stuff to sift through, and its like going through a Labyrinth with only some riddles and breadcrumbs as your guide. Because I enjoy puzzles and surprises, I thoroughly enjoyed that experience and was pretty hooked BECAUSE of that challenge, but most people will just take two seconds, look, and then leave based on the weird stuff on the main page.
I mean, I still think it is a bit of work to find like minded souls here. You have to dig, search, explore... again, I like that process, but in all honesty sometimes I just don't have time, and I have been falling out of touch with some of the developments here that I normally would be totally interested in and thrilled by.
But I agree with you, I have never found such a robust community of people anywhere, ever in my life either. Steemit has helped me get out of my confirmation-bias bubble, I have been able to cross paths with people that the rest of the Internet seems geared toward separating me from. I like that the culture here is to try and find common ground and shared interests with others, rather than go out looking for a fight ( ok some people here do go out looking for fights, but that is easy to ignore if you want to, which I do ignore it).
I wish the home page was way more user friendly so that people could find the treasures here much more quickly. But maybe its good its a little hidden too? Maybe thats a strength as much as a weakness. Hard to say.
I once compared how people find our blogs to the old music store model. I can't remember exactly how I worded it but it's much like how you stumble across a record, the cover catches the eye, never heard of that band, take it home and it turns out to be the best sound you ever heard. Then other people hear it and want their own copy. Something like that.
That business model actually worked quite well for a few decades before it became what it is today. I think I prefer to find what I like rather than being fed what I might like by some robot and a few algorithms.
I also enjoy being able to open my mind more and experience different walks of life through these blog posts. Facebook wasn't showing me pictures from every continent. I was seeing the same crap I always saw as if people were experiencing the same day over and over again. Nobody was a telling a story in public on that platform and I think it's because they're too worried about being judged by their peers. Here, many of us just lay it all out there in the open. It's quite refreshing. Feels more realistic.
As for that trending page and a few other problems here. I was only half joking in my post when I said I was lurking around and reading about the issues. Really, there are two options. We can sit around and wait for those in charge to change things, or we can decide on our own to be the change we want to see.