Dude. It is a steemit problem and you thinking otherwise and comparing steemit to other social media platforms where most influencers do become popular because of their good content (well, arguably good because I still think most of them are shit but I understand why they appeal to the masses), I'm sorry but it is laughable. I'll write a post about it once I reach 40 reputation (I don't know why then, lol, I should just do it now...) but anyway only thing I'll say here, 99% of trending and hot posts are whales and dolphins posts....and no it's not because your posts are good (they are mostly pretty far from good) but it's because you upvote your own posts and then you only need few more upvotes to get there....NOT FAIR and very bad for this business so of course it is a steemit problem.
It how the world works bro.But you have to give them credit for getting to be whales. They got there by hardworking and diligence
I hope you are being sarcastic, lol.