I agree with one thing...a lot of people feal the same way that you do and perception counts. In my opinion it all boils down to two things:

1- A sense of entitlement: people feel that they deserve more then those crapy posts on the trending page.
2- The declining price and therfore the diminished rewards.

I think these are just the growing pains of this platform but hey...I could be wrong.

In the end the rest of humanity won't give a crap if this experiment fails so I just take it for what it is and enjoy the ride while it lasts.