Content should be free to view, otherwise Steemit would be losing traffic as search engines would look past indexing this platform's content. The more accessible the content one publishes, the better! As for your claims of silent users, this is not what I've seen at all. I think you should learn about SEO and social networking, as neither of your claims fit the 7 years of experience I've had on social media at all.
If people aren't engaging with you and your content, its probably because you're laying silent and not talking. The principals of social networking remain generally the same regardless of the platform you're using. If you aren't talking, then no one is listening either.
RE: How Many Total Accounts Are There on Steemit? Active Users?