"Best just treat everyone like a golden whale"
This is exactly what I always did and will do in future, bcs it is not just about them. I am the one that misses an opportunity to find a pearl in a shell burried under the mud of spam (which is unfortunately a huge problem on steemit). The same effort I put in my posts, I put into the search for "satisfying" content, may it be educating or entertaining. And therefore the number next to a nickname is not important. Rep lvl can indicate quality, but not guarantee. And this helped me to find really nice people with the same "wavelength".