Currently I see a greater use for dtube and the meme site (I forget the name) that are attached to Steem than the blog section. You are 100% correct, bots manipulating votes, people posting crap or copy and paste from other sites or just posting a link to an article with no commentary.
For what Steem is currently, there is a lot to be desired, (basically a lot of what reddit offers only with money :)) but I guess that is where the big difference is, people can make a ton of money on youtube and other photo sites. Their activity on those sites is almost purely driven by what will get them more views, likes, shares whatever will result in more money ...
I agree with you, use Steem as your platform for what you are passionate about and any money made is just a bonus!
Awesome comment and I could not agree with you more:
The satisfaction of getting attention, creating a community and receiving (hopefully positive) feedback on my content is already amazing; any money made will be gladly welcomed, but it will not be the main goal of our blogs!
Again thanks for the comment & resteem, loving the interaction on Steemit!