at the moment the trending page has nothing to do with what's popular but more to do with what whales like or think might be popular or useful to attract as many signups as possible.
on steem we have not seen the wisdom of the crowds at work yet, pretty much the opposite.
currently the trending section is infact a curated section (by whales)
I 'm sure you noticed this as your intro quickly gained votes but didn't gain any traction until a whale spotted it.
I think most problems will be resolved when the platform reaches wide adoption , then tags and sections will have more importance and the swarm effect might mitigate whales influence.
btw a huge welcome. me and I bet many others share your interests and I'm sure in time there will be a market for every topic. that's when I'll bother blogging myself.