I feel like it depends on the individual and the target audience when it comes to this
end-users were being coached to write perfect little essays with formatted pictures.
the #steemstem community promotes this as that is expected in STEM fields. This actually leads to engagement within the community.
Make excellent content, but more importantly make friends.
I like this, honestly. The issue, to me, with making friends on steemit is that the majority of the people that get friendly with you are just wanting your upvote and not wanting to properly network.
I get that networking is key and resteeming and just supporting each other in general is essential, but it has to be both (or all if more than two) actively doing so. Youtube is one of the best examples of watching successful networking happen and it wouldn't hurt to emulate the way some of them network.
I've learned that I get more engagement through commenting on other posts than I do on any of my own posts so joining the discussion is absolutely essential if you want to meet people on the site (especially when first starting off).
I agree there is a balance in there somewhere. However, I never sift through posts to find out who has the nicest formatting. It shouldn't be an expectation we set out of the gate.