Lots of good points that I don't have answers to. In regards to content posted to Steemit (or anywhere for that matter) I'm a firm believer in doing what you want to do as opposed to trying to "read the market" so to speak.
True value and economics simply don't correlate. C-List reality stars earn more for tweeting a picture of their ass than a cancer researcher might earn for a decade of work & 3 published papers.
I think being genuine and making the content you would want to see is the only path to adding value and making money simultaneously, but it takes a long time & persistent effort. It's so rare in any endeavor because most of us quit before we realize success.

Look at Steemit in poker terms too! There is inherent randomness in the system. The same post could perform drastically different at different times just depending on who sees it, how much voting power they have left, what else is going on that day. Looking at things in isolation can quickly give wrong impressions because the feedback does not correlate directly. If your pocket aces get cracked twice in a row, I know you're not going to fold them preflop the third time because you believe pocket aces always lose. Just make the +EV moves on Steemit and watch your long term trend.

+EV is as simple as no spam, being polite, being genuine, being consistent, and putting in effort. After that it's out of your control!