I landed here in May and even since then there seems to have been a change. The amount of spammers and bots are off the charts. And the amount of people whining about the success of others has increased also. The $ aspect has definately started to attract users who will never produce quality content and are here to gather as much cash as possible with little effort. I do feel however that they will wither on the vine as the community won't reward them and they'll give up assuming they are posting from the more affluent countries. You're right regarding the value of $ globally, a few cents means so much to some and so little to others so those users spamming from the less fortunate countries won't go easy as it has more value for them and lets face it could mean the difference between eating tonight or not.
In the near future this behaviour will no doubt continue however as the platform evolves I hope it will become a place where most of the users are here to contribute.
It's a wonderful place and I for one would be very sad if it ends up like the mainstream social network sites. We're all different so you are going to see content you like or agree with, but as long as it's reasoned and respectful that's ok.
I've never used any social media prior to coming to Steemit and cherish it greatly, I sincerely hope the majority of the others users now and in the future feel the same way. If so it will continue to be the only place I share my thoughts, hopes and fears.
Good on ya Jack.