Good comment. I came and left (not like THAT you dirty minds haha) but yeah seriously I came and went and came and went, often having months where I didn't read or post anything... so retention is a big thing.

My personal reason at first was because I saw what seemed like average posts making lots of money when I and many others weren't making much at all. I now am here for the long haul but not because of financial rewards at all but because I've found people and communities, challenges and such that keep me interested. Now I don't think about reward at all and to be honest the rewards are so small if that was my goal I'd be better off just doing more hours at work.... 20 cents for spending 4 hours on a piece of art to share or $40 an hour at work, not a tough choice.

Also it's a bit hard to understand, the Steemit system and crypto in general. People aren't going to stay if all the top articles are always about Bitcoin and crypto if they can't understand it nor if they are putting hours of their life into and not getting much out of their time be it financial, spiritual, knowledge, pleasure, friendships or whatever each case may be.

It's a shame and I hope they can figure it out or someplace like Reddit might come along and make a Redditcoin and then Steemit really has no chance.

edit: I will read your post, sounds interesting and worthwhile