It's all about patience. Have you seen the junk on other social media sites? The key to success is building networks, clusters of people who share acquaintances, beliefs, values, proximity. Maybe counter to the idealistic goals of the Steem ecosystem, but it works and it only happens organically. SMTs actually are the IDEAL way to do this. And if that takes hold, where entrepreneurial people with strong brands or existing followers use their own initiative to develop profit centers using the Steemit blockchain -- that is where the value will come from, and that will send Steem to the moon.

This focus on upvotes and bots and the Steemit platform is important. But the vast majority of people will not use the platform to make money, nor will they try (or want to try). The vast majority of people will not even care whether they're earning steem or SBDs as long as they can connect in meaningful ways to people, information, and entertainment. Just the way it is.

We, early users, are the exception but it doesn't feel that way because we're all in this groove. When everybody around you seems to be doing the same thing, interested in the same thing, and generally idealogically aligned, it's natural to feel like you're the norm. You're not.

Facebook sold intimately private information about you and your friends and family to complete strangers who are using it to manipulate your decisions and beliefs. 95% of their users don't care. Just the way it is.