I was discussing this earlier this morning in the steemit chat. Iv'e only been here about a week, and I can see a lot of copy/paste articles happening, even had one of my own copied which was deflating to say the least. Steemit was sold to me as something really different, and it is very unique don't get me wrong, but i think much more people are not reading content and are just money orientated than those who are here seeking and writing good content and a bonus to make some additional income from it. Posts about what food someone ate today with an attractive person in the thumbnail gets way more reward than a really well planned thought out post, which might not actually get anything at all. The home pages look a lot like facebook/Instagram sometimes just people being paid so much more for their nonsense.
There are some quality posts too, and yes if you put the work in you can find good content etc, but it is discouraging, and yes i think we will see a lot of people leave and the wrong kinds staying if nothing is done about it. It's ultimately not fair at all , initially until you have power and influence it's nothing to do with your content it's about how well you learn the master the chess game.
I'm also new here, and I have seen both crap content with votes and great content with votes. The trick is this: followers = visibility. I only get followers when I comment, resteem, upvote, and genuinely participate in the community. Posts alone will get you nowhere, no matter how good the content. Sorry to hear you got plagiarized. Consider me a new follower!
Yes, I am getting the hang of it now. I'm steadily picking up followers by commenting on posts, and more than 'oh that was good' . Followed back dude, we need all the support we can muster :)