I agree with your points about the other sites. Basically I am a few days old user here, and really like it and hope it succeeds. I would say the closest competitor to Steemit is Niume. You didn't name it so I wondered if you tried it yet? They pay for blogs, but only $1 per 1000 views. However, they pay the new person a dollar and the person that referred them a dollar once they write their first post. The nice thing is that is in USD. The number one problem I face when trying to get people to come over here is the converting Steem to USDs. Following you now :)
In full disclosure I failed typing in high school. Only class I ever did poorly in lol. Now I wish I had tried harder lol.
I haven't used Niume before. I think to attract and engage users from now in it is going to take a little more than a thumbs up, star or heart button. I am hoping that quality will prevail in the end rather than selfies and cleavage. I am not against cleavage per se, but dare I say that there may be a limit.
As said, I didn't take typing but I would have been very happy if that is the only class I did poorly in. The list is quite long for me. I wish I had spent more time with maths, taken physics, listened in chemistry etc.
That's exactly what I tell my son about school!!! LOL
Niume is nice. I like the referral program. They pay a dollar to each person, the referrer and the referee. Minimum payout to Paypal is $10. They pay $1 per 1000 views. Check it some time.
https://niume.com/101496