You describe almost exactly what the appeal has been for me.
In the early incarnation of blogging, it was often "social blogging," with blog rings and the writers having long conversations with each other over content. MySpace and Facebook took most of that away; urging people to simply leave a "thumbs up" in place of actual words... and so (at least in my book) the "empty headed Internet" came about. Steemit seems to break that mold — in part due to the rewards — and I am really enjoying that.
Feel free to take a look at my latest post. I do try not to wait on the sideline but to change things.
To bad I don’t have the power for it!
Maybe my best post so far! But make your own judgement. Let me know what you think about it, if you do want to read it!
No strings attached!
I will have a look at it and comment there when I have a little more time!
On a quick read-through, it looks like a good idea, though.