I suspect that popularity, number of votes, etc. is not just a function of genericity of content, but also of the size of a poster's wallet. The richer posters will attract a bigger following because of the ever present hero-worshipping and the follower's perceived chance of getting some votes/money in return for being a sycophant.

Also, the chance of being accepted into a circle jerk is a function of wallet size ("who you know" depending on how rich you are).

I think these two effects reinforce and speed up the process you describe, as they work towards concentrating rewards towards the already well-off and widen the gap between them and the "commons", while at the same time making the content they produce irrelevant to their income.

But then again, maybe I'm just complicating your model for nothing 8-).