Yeah, it's not "Facebook with Money," and I never expected it to be so. It's circa early 2000's "social blogging" with Steem in lieu of "e-props."
Mistake number one people make: Thinking Steemit is magically like some kind of "job" they are going to get significant earnings from.
WRONG: I have been on 50-odd sites that offered (monetary) rewards for content, and ALL were dominate by a few hundred people who did pretty well, and everyone else made a buck or two. But everyone thinks they can be "the exception."
Mistake number 1 is an outgrowth of idiots who go around pitching Jeff Berwick's by now infamous "$30,000 post" as being representative of what we do on Steemit. Which is about as realistic as calling $30Mn "representative" of the lottery. The lottery, in which thousands of people win $3, every day, for getting three of six numbers right.
People ask the wrong questions; make the wrong assumptions.
They should be asking "Will what I do next — post, comment, vote — help this ecosystem grow and thrive?" and have faith that if that ecosystem IS growing and thriving, then they'll be rewarded fairly.
Yeah. I know. Good luck with that...