A lot of truths here and I am reminded of two posts thst I read in a span of two days one was a Community leader who said that people leaving the platform was a cleansing because it is getting rid of people who are only interested in the money aspect of Steem but goes right on thanking big whales, communities that are supporting him with upvotes and another was a very raw and unedited vlog of a person who is at her wits end because she did not get in a program that she was working hard to get in and she feels that she is a failure because she has done everything but success eludes her.
I know both people to a certain degree and I understand the point of both.
There have been posts about retention, post about what can we do better in spreading the wealth, there have been posts about how whales do not owe anyone and that they need to share their vote.
Right now we are still struggling on how we can get the right mix. I don't really think that Steem will be of mass adoption but will be a certain niche of content creators who will care for things that are important to them may it be crypto, art, music, or simply lining their pockets it is their call.
Thank you though for articulating a lot of these thoughts.