Curation is happening a lot more now, almost to the point where it is really difficult to find underrewarded posts that deserve the rewards

Your right there, I try and find them all the time (when I have the time) and if it's decent, one of the curation groups jumps on it.

I have seen a few new accounts pop in in the last few weeks, it's promising that they are no longer getting ignored.

However, many are still the same old shit posters without long content and it sticks out a mile. They are so easy to spot.