Thank you for this fascinating article. The question you pose has crossed my mind several times and I am new to Steemit. I already feel a little disillusioned. I like the free exchange of view and opinions which benefits the whole community.
I used to be a professional historian and still write articles now as a hobby but am wondering if it is worth the effort writing articles exclusively for Steemit which get one or two views. I still see my job as passing on what knowledge I have which may benefit other people. Is Steemit the forum for this? I am not sure.
I understand the discouragement. It can take a while to build relationships in any new community and Steem is no different. I hope you to stick around. If it feels lonely then try to bring your friends along.
Despite my concerns, I hope it was clear from my post that I'm still quite optimistic about this community. There are serious challenges to overcome and serious work to be done, but this is still the best way I know to onboard mainstream people into cryptocurrency, and that's worth fighting for.