I am quite new to Steemit, but quite sadly I am coming to the conclusion that yes, Steemit in its present form is a bit of a pyramid scheme. Wahales voting for whales who vote for whales. More bots than you can shake a stick at. My initial impression of Steemit was that it was to be a platform for content providers. My impression now is that it is a platform for whales and tech savy high rollers to game the system and take the money. Minnows and new unfunded joiners are merely the cannon fodder.