I can only agree with you that the people newly joining in are less renown on the platform and get much less visibility as there is, in deed, a lot of crypto-nepetisism most possibly costing the platform a load of new users leaving us... In itself, it is already a concern really worth talking about. As soon as this problem showed up, I think the appearance of curation crews here and there, backed up by whales started to make a huge difference, as long as the curation is not bot based. This way, the platform moves toward more and more quality as time goes, though time is of the essence in this matter. May the "Mother of All Virtues", patience, be of help for the ones thinking of leaving and may they persist in their determination to create quality posts for us all and beyond to enjoy. They will get recognized sooner or later.
I have seen monumental goodwill within the community here on Steemit and can't help but think that this is what makes it worth being here the very most. The tokens have been a greta incentive on many levels, but this willingness in sharing the wealth based on a quality we all need for this platform to stay sustainable and grow in this fashion is the number one mandatory requisite and, this, takes time.
Thanks for exposing the situations you are referring to us here in your quality article, you sure deserve the upvote and resteem! Namaste :)