If you noticed, my 100% upvote just rewarded your comment 1 cent.
By itself, my full power upvote has never been worth more than that. Lots of us here wish we could reward others more, but lack the capital to invest in the platform to raise our Steem power. That's why I often run contests and give away steem, plus I sometimes give out "WILDCARDS" on posts and comments and reward people out of my own pocket for their effort. I've even anonymously promoted others posts too.
My recommendation would be to keep it up, and try to remain optimistic.
I think it's still such a young platform, still in beta, and they are still working the kinks out, that it does warrant sticking it out and staying positive. I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of everything myself. I would love to see it do well just for the sake of the creativity that I've seen. I hope that the rewards system can get worked out a little better to where there are no questions of fairness and it doesn't seem shady to newcomers. When you really step back and look at what people contribute from all over the world it's astonishing and it makes me feel like I'm a part of a real grassroots community.
Let's hope 2017 brings good things for Steemit and all of the Steemians!! Happy New Year!!
Well said @alohaoy!
Happy New Year!