As a new joiner what I found interesting was this; someone I followed on youtube started posting here, we joined about the same time. We'd had similar view counts and gathered more and more followers. Then a few days ago he commented that a whale had spotted him and the $$ gains he racked up was almost surreal. I'm thrilled for him, as his stuff is unique and original.
So it is an interesting element that the "whale notice" and all the "tricks" needed to gather upvotes/$$$. It's very game-like.
Maybe Steem could add some human readers to actually read some of the great original content, just an idea, I see many great original articles with a handful of readers, it's these talented original content providers that will be the first ones out after a few months if their work stays buried.
Not complaining at all, this is your system and it has worked thus far, just my observation after a month on Steem. Thanks for noticing!