I think quality content gets beat out by content from people who have a better circle of more powerful people around them. It's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing its just the reality. I would however like to see quality content rise to the top more.

I've seen some larger Youtubers come over here and get paid big money for shitty content while there are some lesser known people creating really amazing longform content with a lot of media making $1, and then someone else posts a meme they stole offline and makes $300.

I think Steemit like you said is still trying to find itself as a platform and what kind of content were looking for here. I also think there is some inconsistancy where some established accounts post bot curated content and do well and then another newer account does the same stuff and has cheetah or steemcleaners all over it. There just needs to be more consistancy across the platform in that regard.