"For ordinary users, sharing something interesting is likely to be a boring or annoying experience as no one wants to see their submission at 1 cent, which feels insulting, or stolen by others and see the stolen submission gain $200 while theirs barely gets much attention. " -- I think you just defined subsegments in ANY system. If someone is ordinary (incredibly vague) and they are sharing something they believe to be interesting, that alone should be enough to use a platform where even the potential for it to earn anything is worth it. How many other social media platforms can you openly share a thought, opinion or reaction to something without fearing for censorship let alone earn any form of compensation? Just my 2cents of course.

Was a good read though :-)