The problem with steemit is timing and greed, the same people always voting for the same people for years. Nothing has changed, nor will it until there is a limit to how many times you can vote for the same author per day or week. You only have to look at who makes the most money per post per day, to see who is on whose "auto vote list".
Or make a random decay to rewards with no set timing for the best time to vote (scrap the 5 minute rule) Just my 1 cents worth of thoughts.

If anyone is guaranteed to make good money on a post, most people will automatically based on return, auto-vote that person.

Then new people may stay here instead of only being here for a few weeks then leaving. (due to no returns)

Another problem is the mindset of the very people you are appealing to, as I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen those in the long standing "clique" state user retention is not important, and to that end, good luck changing their minds.