Hi @cherry
When I first joined, I was coming from Reddit and to me Steemit was very similar but with the addition of getting paid for upvotes. My Reddit mentality was always, "I will post what I want, when I want, and if people like it, so be it." I did not use Reddit for validation.

Perhaps this is the mistake you are making here on Steemit? The platform is still really new and has a fast growing user-base. Plus it is still in beta with lots of additional features to come. Using the platform right now to seek validation from others of your efforts might not be the best course of action. My recommendation would be to use it for yourself, as a sort of "public diary" and if other people start enjoying it, then great! If not, don't worry about it, just keep using it for your own benefit.