HER OPINION: Why would people be getting paid that much money to write, this has to be a scam!

When you think of it as a lottery it makes more sense. Buzzfeed writers are paid to write, but most articles likely cost more than they bring in. But if one in ten goes viral, it pays off in traffic.

The difference with SteemIt is the outsized and disproportionate rewards are being paid to bring growth to the platform. If it's a scam (and it isn't), it's a scam on the investors not the writers.