Regarding lack of use of the platform, I think people are still shaken by the upgrade. It seemed that new accounts were hit the hardest. For someone with low SP, simply creating a post depleted all of their resources making them unable to vote, comment or transact (i.e. engage with the platform). Then after finding out that they can't do anything on the platform for several hours and their confidence in Steemit being shaken, they receive a message telling them to spend money and invest in SP... being told to invest money in something that you are experiencing problems with first hand is pretty off-putting and even made me question things. I know i'm not alone in that thinking as well. I wouldn't be surprised if this event had a big impact on steemit's use for new members but hopefully it recovers in the long run. I still do not understand all of the nuances and impacts of HF20.
You raise some very good points. Regarding information. I agree that since people tend to only consume information that agrees with or perpetuates their own opinions/beliefs, people seem to place themselves in a sort of echo chamber. They surround themselves with one type of info and with people who share their viewpoint. Then everyone discusses the same topics from the same mindset and they all strengthen their already biased and narrow belief system. You state the result of this quite well:
This then goes onto develop their argument and makes anyone they argue with who has an opposing view seem crazy but, it is not known what they have been consuming.
Your analogy about suburbs is interesting. For me it makes me think of any trending page on steemit which are predominantly controlled by specific groups of people. If one only reads the trending page of a particular tag then each day they will only receive information from a very select few individuals. They essentially get trapped in the suburbs , as you put it. To me, trending pages represent the suburbs (which is why I rarely go on them) and the "new" page represents the deeper underbelly of the city.
I think now the changes are starting to take effect. The communication from Steemit was not great but, not many people even clicked on the link in that big red banner.
Trending pages are generally narrow views here because they are controlled by stake alone (voting) but this will change depending on how interfaces implement their views later on. The catch all system of Steemit.com reflects (other than the last 2 days) bought votes for the most part.
Never go alone :D