Thanks for this comment.
I agree, the example I took at the time was a quick scan of the trending page, and definitely not a knock at @krnel (I certainly hope it didn't come across that way). Many of my posts have 15 views and 80 upvotes, so the same thing happens to me as well. This trending 20 questions situation (way more views than upvotes) is a rare instance, and showed me that it is likely content that is connecting with people outside of Steemit.
It seems as though this is starting a conversation with regard to the views v.s. upvotes. Some people have possible solutions as well, so hopefully there is something that the majority can agree is good for Steemit.
Yes, I noticed some good comments on the post.
I think this revelation has got me very curious now. I may go and look at my recent posts and see if there are any that have had views from outside of Steemit..
EDIT: I had a look and I noticed three pizzagate posts that had 500-800 views in contrast to only a 100 or so votes. There was also a recent satirical post about a Trump impeachment that had 50 or so more views than upvotes in spite of a voting trail picking that one up.
I think you are bang on the mark about trending topics gaining attention for Steemit. I am going to make more of an effort to make posts relating to current trends, as well as word my titles in a manner that matches what people will be typing into the search bar on google.
If it helps Steemit, then it helps us all.