After taking a break, I came to the conclusion that I'm only here for the conversation. There are a lot of wonderful people here carrying on fantastic discussion across all possible subjects. I like it more than Reddit. There is something about being attached to an identity with financial value attached that creates a different atmosphere here (for me, at least).
But the financial rewards are not a factor at all (for me). In its present state, making significant income off of Steemit works for folks who bought or mined STEEM early on. New people are simply not able to bootstrap from zero. While they can sharpen their writing and conversational skills, there are far better options to learn and get paid.
I think we should enjoy the feeling of magic and possibility about the place while it exists. We should continue the healthy debates and do our best to cultivate a stable platform for future participants. And yet, we have no idea how the future actually unfolds. It's quite possible that the next 1,000,000 users want to do something completely different -- or that we all pack up and move to a newer, better platform that levels the playing field.
Who knows?
I'll just enjoy this while it lasts.
I here what you're saying.... this place is evolving, or regressing, or both at the same time, away from the little guy being able to earn a decent even second income, unless he upvotes relentlessly.
But there are a lot of alt. views on here.
I'm fortunate in that I'm treating this as a sort of 'participatory research exercise'... it's a fascinating platform to be involved in from a sociological perspective... I almost feel like I'm going a rogue PhD (at least psuedo PhD) on blockchain social media.
Sorry I took so long to reply!