SteemIt has one huge problem: If the upvotes on a post are worth less than $0.02; then the votes are wiped away as dust.

I have noticed that groups of friends can do well on SteemIt. The friends vote for eachother's posts. If the friends all have free accounts (they are in the plankton) then the upvotes never amount to anything.

Unfortunately, for a social network to work; someone in the social network needs to have enough STEEM POWER to raise the upvotes in the group over $0.02. One needs to buy about $400 in STEEM POWER to make a social network work.

If you invite people to join steemit and don't have enough SP in your account to assure your invitee gets rewards; then your friend is likely to get frustrated and leave.