I think I was on the live voice chat when you guys talked about this, though for a short time.
For me, this is a major problem on steemit. Most new users are either lost when they start because really almost everyone is trying to get ahead, no one is looking at the new user. So what does he do? He either gets frustrated after a few months and leaves or brushes the egos of popular steemians who are also looking out for their own interest and won't easily dish out upvotes because he or she wants to maintain their voting power. However, if all attention is polarised to just the big shots, then who would have time for the newbies? Even the newbies themselves don't read each other's post.
I think if things have to change then people need to be re-oriented. there needs to the interaction between the new comings, building themselves--that is one way. Those with high steempower can help to be engaging with a new user, but it should not be left to them, everyone needs to play an active part in building and stabilizing the steem ecosystem