well said. it is a mix between both and to be honest you need to create your own circle jerk :-) but that is ok steemit is big enough for all of us

“by giving your time and expertise and sharing them freely, the pie gets bigger for everyone.” -Keith Ferrazzi

you can exchange time for content and experience for votes. If you dont work with the community your posts will only be worht what your own vote is worth.

if you dont put at least some effort into your content you will, like you said ignored for the most part