The herd wears a bikini and goes hiking in the Tahitian jungle.
More to the point, the herd wants to see someone in a bikini hiking in a jungle - not a guarantee that any of said herd would ever leave their desks to do that themselves.
I think you're right, that those of us who aren't possessors of Vast Social Networks and relentless marketing skills (targeted content, promotion of said content) (and good looks don't hurt) aren't going to make a living here.
I'm not hot, I don't smoke weed, and my capacity for writing about stuff with limitless hyperbolic enthusiasm is, um, limited.
At this point, I think I'm going to "park and ride." I have Steem and I have Steem Power and I'm watching the value rise. Great! You guys go for it! I'll sit and profit.
But... No, I'm not going to spend 18 hours creating content for $0.00. As you say, you could almost start extracting a psychological profile of the whales by this point, and I'm sure that savvy marketers are coming in and doing just that.
Good comment, thank you! I think I'm right too, but I'm slightly more optimistic about the long game.
In the meantime, what if you could spend 18 hours curating content for $400? I think there's a place for everybody here, and curating is probably the thing that will make or break Steemit. So go forth and vote!
so you say, its better to comment and upvote, than to post content that needs 10 hour preparation because by upvoting and commenting is a better chance -right now- to earn?
Willy banks is doing pretty well for himself right now.... ^^^
Basically if you're not so impassioned by your work that you don't care about the payday the best thing to do is curate and comment. Eventually you will start writing. Guaranteed. Or your money back.