I agree with you there, but don't think free trade/free markets are to blame. I think, if anything, it's a bad business model/structure. It reminds me a lot of Multi-Line Marketing quasi-scams (the trending page stuff). If this low quality rubbish is truly what gets rewarded most here, I'd say that is a result of not reading market signals accurately, and just milking a dying cow.

The actual market is pretty good, when one looks where the real engagment is (quality posts, comment threads, etc). It seems to me that it is precisely where this platform does not recognize and honor organic market signals (overpaid infomercial posts vs. posts with actual quality engagement) that the platform fails.

Anyway. I will be thinking about what you said. One thing I know is that this platform, for all its shitty spots, is miles beyond data-collection sites like Facebook.

A better model, more accurate to reading market signals for organic attention and quality, could take over at any time.