As a minnow I would agree that improving the UI is where the effort needs to go. As a new user the things I want to do first are 1) find the content that appeals to me 2) find the people and groups that appeal to me.
A point about author/creator rewards. There's a lot of talk about this across the network but I'm wondering if we are forgetting the Pareto principle? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
That is, in any similar ecosystem, 20% of the participants will receive 80% of the rewards.
In any creative industry you can think of- art, literature, music, the Pareto principle applies. It's just the way it is.