HF19 has reduced the votes minnows can cast by 400%, and during the development of HF19 the number of posts increased by 1000%.

This has caused people to be unable to vote for posts. I think you are not alone.

Most of my rewards come from comments, rather than posts. This is probably a result of being more focused on dialogue with the community, rather than on rewards.

The recent decline in cryptocurrency values has further exacerbated this problem, by decreasing the value of Steem, which reduces the value of SP and SBD rewards too.

Steemit's most valuable feature is it's community, imho, not financial rewards. If you seek substantive comment on your posts, and reckon rewards just a bonus, I believe you will be less discouraged.

Keep calm and Steem on!