The answer to 1, 3, and 4 is don't play the comparison game. The trending list is usually a good way to find new accounts to follow. With enough good posters you can then look at the personal feed more and more.
This is a problem that can be somewhat addressed in user interface but it's also going to be a perpetual filter on types of people that play the comparison game and get overly upset at the perception of unfairness.