excellent contribution to the conversation. hardly a book. :-)
re: link aggregation... yes. this is not a "make-easy-money" platform. rewards flow to those who put in a LOT of time and energy into creating valuable content. neither much time nor energy is required to share a link, and such, not a lot of value inherent in it - unless perhaps the user has also done a writeup sharing a unique, valuable perspective on the content that furthers stimulating discussion.
re: >"users need to understand that whales and dolphins are spreading the distribution of SP/SBD and growing the middle class community."
YES.
And truthfully, I've begun finding that even more personally rewarding/satisfying than seeing the numbers in my account is upvoting and putting SBD in the accounts of those who I feel have added real value to the site, whom I appreciate for the perspectives they've contributed to me in exchange for the time I paid to their posts.
re: >"I tend to look at a user's history including their, comments, upvotes to others, and their wallet before I vote on something that could be viral."
I like this. It exemplifies the value of a long-term investment in the community - not judging a user based on one first impression, but digging in to understand more of what they're about and have proven themselves to contribute to the community over the duration of their time on Steemit.
Thank you. I enjoy a good conversation. :)
I find that I am actually able to help others here and it is rewarding beyond the monetary gains. While sometimes discouraging when people don't "get it", when one does and says thanks it feels good.
There's also such a thing as putting in your 'dues'. I see that in comments and helping people I've been rewarded more monetarily than for posting. Not that I've had anything to post, but when I do maybe others will follow me and notice. Then again I may end up being a content helper instead of a content creator.
Complaining about the system just takes away from the time you have in trying to change the system.