Nice little rant right here @justineh - As always. legit ranter.
So, I agree with all you said. Nothing more to add really. Well, that wouldn't be my style so here goes...
I tend to write for myself, not necessarily to get votes of appease my [many and loyal] fans. I have turned this into an enjoyment rather than a job, a vehicle to earn money. Sure, I get disappointed when, what I see as a great post [great to me], only get's a small return but worse to me is the lack of engagement. You're right, tells me I missed my mark, however if I enjoyed writing it have I really?
It's just a different way of looking at it I guess. I know I need followers and so I try to write well, good spelling, punctuation, and only post after a proof-read. [Still make mistakes though]. I hope that, and some interesting topics, generate some interest and sometimes it does, others not. A bit of a lottery sometimes I think.
Now I'm curating for curangel I'm seeing much more content and disappointingly much of it is rubbish, and I discard it as such - I hope for that to one day turn around. Posts like yours will help.
Anyway, the feeling of entitlement is a plague in society these days and its prevalent here too unfortunately. I hope things turn around and in the mean time I'll just keep on keeping on and hope the pebbles I throw in the pond create some ripples.
Full disclosure: I know you're busy but I miss ya. :)