@moonjelly I like your critisism and I think the scam part is when people actually buy Steem with BTC, while the big Whales trade Steem for Bitcoins. They tell you invest, while they cash out.
By the way, what about plagiarism? I think someone stole my ideas, where I barely got votes on it. You change the text to be on the safe side. He got almost 50 bucks for it compared to my tiny 0.14 cents. Talking about ripping off someone ideas.
https://steemit.com/steemit/@conspiracynut/things-you-might-regret-having-done-on-steemit-an-instruction-on-how-not-to-fall-into-personal-traps
Here the post that came later . WTF?
https://steemit.com/steemit/@voltarius/how-to-maintain-a-flawless-steemit-reputation#@conspiracynut/re-voltarius-how-to-maintain-a-flawless-steemit-reputation-20160824t065438100z
Content here definitely have value if properly monetized. But by buying Steem or SP no one is actually gaining anything either on the short or the long term. The minute I see a proper business plan to monetize content created here that's when I would definitely consider throwing some money in the platform. I think most people with investing and trading experience are well aware of that by now, so that's why Steem's price is plummeting and will continue to do so unless that's addressed.