There aren't very many people on here who money has no affect on. Part of the allure of this place is monetizing posts. So I get all of that. I often wonder how my interactions would be on here if there wasn't money tied into it. I can't say for certain one way or another.. though I spent a lot of time on a website called the dailypaul meeting other ron paul supporters, sharing news, we had a really good community on that website, with no monetization. I stayed there until it got shut down. I met so many awesome people there. Some I still talk to today.
You are right, this place has so much potential and we are only a year and a couple months into this great experiment. I have enjoyed it so far and I have got to meet lots of awesome people. All the while making bits and pieces of crypto, and that is powerful.
Sidenote: engadget is posting on Steemit now, I would say they are the biggest people on here now. What happens when the next huge company joins, and the next. We are snowballing down the mountain and we have just started. Hopefully when we make it to the bottom of the hill we are big enough to crush smaller things like Reddit!
Excellent news!