I think your experiences on here reflect those of many who have joined recently.

If you're not a friend with a whale, it's a hard slog getting recognised and rewarded for good work.

I TOTALLY agree on the 'post for a post' quid-pro-quo attitudes of some of the people on here who are hell bent on climbing the greasy pole to popularity and content be damned but for the ones who genuinely put effort into their work only for it to evaporate in a deluge of newer posts can be disheartening.

I'd recommend looking seriously at the curation side of things to keep involved and build up a following of like minded people who will be your 'first port of call' audience for any new blogs you post and hopefully if they like what you write it'll be resteemed to a wider audience.