Another issue is actually how a lot of whales are voting their own circles. There is not way for newbies like us to get anything by posting or curating. It has turned into buying votes from bots in order to survive.
Competition from FB also coming and the whales here don't understand how it's up to them to stop abusing the system in order for the whole platform to survive.
RE: Gamechanger: Steemit/Steem Needs A Direct Exchange. By Gregory Mannarino