You sum up the issues around retention very well. Expectations are really important I think. Steemit is usually described as a blogging site, so when people first arrive they often put a lot of effort into writing several good posts. With no network those posts will just go completely unnoticed, and no matter how great your posts were the curation organisations want to see a bit of engagement from you before they hand out any rewards.
New users need to join a community or two and make some friends. That way they can get a few upvotes and start to grow a bit.
Maybe there could be something like ‘talent scouts’ for communities? People from communities who go around looking for content from new users that would fit their community. I’m not sure what the best answer is, but I think if Steemit could improve the experience for new users it could get a better retention rate and reach critical mass
Expectations are the biggest issue around people coming and going in my opinion... Yah having good content is only half of the puzzle, and thats where people go wrong - they forget the social side of Steemit - I would even suggest new users spend a week or two just engaging and getting to know how Steem works and meeting people before they even post.
Yeah I have met loads of great people on Discord.
I think there must be something like this already happening - such as @curie, although they are less specific and community orientated just focussed on under rated content.
P.s. Sorry for the late replys we are off travelling now :)
No worries on the late replies, Steemit can feel like a full-time job sometimes!