re:
"I've been focusing on posts that are unique to me, I'm (mostly) not trying to hedge or rig or figure out the bestest or greatest way to be popular or make dough"
There's a middle ground, and it takes some experimentation to find...
On one hand, Originality is required - that personal passion creating something unique to ourselves.
Though also, what is valuable to the community is determined by the community.
There is a meeting point between those two, that at least for myself, took some trial & error to find. Not all of what we think will be valuable to others. But, there is GOLD within some of what we have to offer. The more experimentation, the faster that gold may be discovered - and once we clue into what those common elements are in the successful stories that effectively bridge that gap between what's important to us and what others find valuable... Therein lies the formula for success...