Man Steemit is complicated though. If you are just starting out, didn't invest in Steem, and don't use upvote bots it's a tough road to getting anywhere. I think the most confusing part though is how you are rewarded. I found that the posts I put the most amount of work into, the most research and the most time, got pennies. When I posted dumb, impromptu, somewhat silly acting and singing tutorials (which weren't all crap admittedly, because I am an expert on the subject) but dtube started dropping some huge rewards on my videos. Then I began to receive criticism from fellow users for getting huge upvotes from dtube on my "selfie videos" so I decided to switch gears to offer Steemit something more useful, which is why I started the BuzzSteem news series. Steemit has now become a nearly (second) full time job because it takes hours to compile the information for my videos. Then there is the writing and filming, editing and uploading. And now, dtube has lost interest in my vids because I'm no longer doing "catchy tutorials". So in essence, I have upped the value of my content, but lost any earnings on it that I had been making. It definitely doesn't make me feel particularly motivated to continue releasing higher quality content when I got paid regularly to film 5 minute impromptu tutorials.
I'm not sure how Steemit can change that, but I think it is responsible for a lot of the low quality posting on here. Everyone keeps using the words "persistency and consistency" and I agree with that to a degree, but really it's more about consistency. Steemit seems to reward those who post daily, and it absolutely does not have to be quality posts. I think you are an exception to the norm in this category!
I do wish that exceptional quality was rewarded, because Steemit would be a far different place. Most of the top rewarded videos are people just literally yapping into a camera about nothing of importance (like I did) or vlogging daily their plans to get rich here. I fail to see how that's adding anything. It seems so narcissistic to me, but people eat it up and dtube rewards it with a handsome sum every day. It can be very disheartening and confusing getting those kinds of mixed signals from the website.
For me now, it's less about money and more about trying to build the platform, creating daily news that gets people excited about what is going on, and one off videos about how to improve Steemit and save Steem in the long run.
Anyway, I didn't mean to high jack your comment section, I just got to thinking about a lot of this from what you wrote, and well, just had to share I guess. Thanks for all the wonderful content you regularly put out! I would much rather have quality than quantity.