I haven't read much commentary on Steemit from external sources for long time. In the early days a lot of the comments were negative, with accusations of ponzi / pyramid schemes. I'd say that those claims have been shown to be false in the pure/accurate sense - although as with offline economic systems, there is clearly a wealth pyramid involved here.

It would not take much to fix these problems in the system and it is that which is both a cause for concern and also a saving grace if acted on.