I like what you are saying @jacobt except for "with Reddit people don't have to take the time to write a thoughtful "Steem". If you see my recent posts, you will see that they were pretty simple, and they still received a fair amount. And I think we should be able to follow people as well as topics, that way you have the best of both.
fulll steem ahead!
Maybe we move more in that direction. But, at least initially and possibly as part of the culture, the trend is headed the other direction. I feel this limits a lot of content from being shared. Steemit needs to realize that the majority of the content creation is going to happen outside these walls. Being able to bring that in, without the need to write a long "steem" is important IMO.
I think you have a point