It seems that people are suspicious of any site that says it will pay you. It can't be a pyramid if you don't have to pay in anything. They only thing you have to give is time and people waste that playing silly games for nothing. I was on Tsu and struggled to get people to join up even though I could show evidence of people being paid. I made a few hundred dollars there myself.
I think the main value in a social network is the in who is there. If all their friends are on Facebook then they will probably stay there. I think Steemit is still a niche site for now. It needs to add features and gain killer content to succeed.