Like most things in crypto, Steemit has a bad rep. Go to google and search steemit and scam and you will see a lot of crap out there. 'Its a ponzi', 'you need to buy in to get up the ranks', 'dont expect to make and money'.

Anyone who joins Steemit wants money.. in the first instance. It is the draw and I think thats why many 3rd world people join. For them, a few cents is something but for the western people it's peanuts and they can earn more at McDonalds.

It's not a ponzi (I was lured into BitConnect so I know for sure what one of those it), you do need to invest for anyone to take you seriously (dont you have to invest in the stock market to see a return too?).

The welcome to new users sucks to be honest. You have to wait weeks for an account (Wasnt HF20 supposed to make it instant?). Yes its instant if you pay, and I can dish out accounts with 0 SP, but they cant do anything.

As other Steemians should it be up to us to 'bribe' people to stay by creating a free account (not a big deal) and delegating some SP to them (should'nt be the case).

As much as I would love the masses to join, things need to change. The message about Trending as you say.. needs to go. The massive amounts of money is what the new user sees, and when it doesnt happen they leave.

@curie helps a lot, they do target the new people if they do anything os substance, but I wish there was more than one @curie.