I absolutely agree with you. The first thing I did when I signed up was find the tools to identify top authors and top accounts and followed all their feeds. This way I am learning from the best, and it ramps up my learning curve. I don't think most members think of that.
Maybe Steemit could create some "Welcome to Steem" intro guides with best practices and recommended accounts to follow so that new users can get a better start?
That's a really good idea. I've been here for just over a month, and I really don't know what I am doing!