Hey buddy, I'd like to weigh in on the posting to other platforms vs Steem. I'm also someone who used to post frequently, and benefitted greatly. I wish things hadn't gone down this way, but this is the truth.
With steem at such a low value, monetary reward is almost nonexistent. Once that disappeared, we were left with making content just because we could. Let's be honest, opportunity? There's almost none here at the current state. The chance of you going viral, getting a brand deal, having a large audience over 5000... It's slim to none. And in addition to that, the engagement absolutely sucks. It's sad but it's the truth.
One could argue well you should create just for passion... Which is true, but to what extent? It's almost a waste of time when you could be posting elsewhere with much more opportunity. So once you take out the monetary rewards, what's left?
Dude! It's been ages. Hope you're well.
You're right on all the points... except one.
The attitude has changed here about uploading the same content (cross posting), and many people are now posting the same exact content on both DTube and YouTube. I'm planning on uploading the same content on YT with the DTube branding left in there. This may not be for you of course because we have different whys.
Also, you can still get the odd few dollars here, and just leave it here. One day, the price will go up and it will be worth something. All you need is a few minutes to upload now and again.
We can't match Instagram or YouTube for engagement - especially Instagram. That's for sure, but we can keep the boat afloat here by putting stuff on here now and again.