I really think you would gain a deep understanding of Steemit by reading Dan Larimer's blog. This is the central reason Steemit was created, out of a need to create non-violent solutions to the world's most pressing problems. This is Dan's quote which is very powerful, and is the backbone of Steemit actually:

"Violence is a shortcut that is taken when people get frustrated and lack innovative alternatives. People don’t choose violence because they want the violent solution, they choose it because they don’t see any other way."

If you could take a moment and read the blog post from which that came, I'd really like that. Here it is:
https://bytemaster.github.io/update/2015/12/29/Why-Vision-Matters/

And I would add, to create a financial incentive for people to use logic, reason and creativity to carve out solutions that make our world better. Abusive people earn zero dollars in Steemit. The smart people soon realize that their income is proportionate to their community efforts. And for some, that community effort can be in the form of humor, data, analysis, monitoring abuse (spam, trolls, stalking), programming, art, services, basically anything that the community deems valuable. You are valuable to us because you have an existing, engaged following who respects you. We give you that respect back in the form of upvotes, financial rewards.

You will also find many of your basic questions answered in Steemit Help: http://www.steemithelp.com/index.php?/selfhelp/categories