Just because you sign up here and post an article, that does not entitle you to huge rewards.
True
Contribution is what is rewarded.
False. Spamming is. And early investment. And creating a bot that votes on whatever paying customers want, is rewarded. Quality content, real contribution, is not rewarded. It is preyed upon by the whales that sees their investment rise in value every time a minnow writes something good and attracts more users to the platform and currency. I am yet to find a quality post with high reward. But I can see the potential in this platform. Only minor changes are needed. It would not take much to make it successful. (I really want to know if steem 2.0 has the changes I think are needed. Exciting times!)
The trending page is full of garbage article circle voted up....
True. The trending page shows what is rewarded.
So don't look at the trending page.
Well, here is where it gets interesting. Humans always tries to create “fairness”. And if we find something that is unfair we stop playing the game entirely. Why would someone in their right mind switch from giving Zuckerberg money to giving steem whales money? People want fairness. And it is impossible for us to ignore this factor.
Reform the unfair situation and watch steem grow. Or watch people leave.
Example:
I bet you believe the whales are getting stronger dont you? That they are getting more powerful?
Is that what you believe?
I have not seen any statistics on this.