"...the SteemIt power elite are just circle-jerking
votes with their rich friends..."

:D That made me laugh. I do hear what you are saying, though. It seems like there is a lot of good content that isn't getting its' proper share of the reward pool, and there's some really crappy content that gets huge money - because of their rich friends. I guess that's just life - it's all about who you know, and learning to play well with others. It appears you have stepped on some toes that are better not stepped on.

I haven't checked out the whole Bitshares/Whaleshares networks just yet. Soon I'm sure to set up a BitShares wallet and get more into that aspect of the game. It seems like the next step into the deeper end of SteemIt. But, for now, I'm still getting my feet wet in the minnowsupport pond on Discord & learning how to use their bots. But, it is starting to make a big difference to my rewards.

It's a learning process. I find it just takes time, persistence in the "daily grind," and a little bit of focusing on other peoples' posts and content. I know he's almost a cliche' around here, but look at @papa-pepper - he's just a regular guy, didn't know $#!t to start out with, but he's been here longer than most of us. He openly speaks about how to do what he has done on SteemIt - but there is still only one person who can be in the top spot. For him, it almost seems a bit like "dumb luck" on the surface - but I am very sure there a whole lot more to his success than meets the eye. Success and money do not just happen to fall into your lap, for no reason at all.

When I get time, I will definitely be checking out your network and stopping by at http://Steem.in to check out what you guys are doing over there. Thanks for the invite! Until then, be honest, do what is right, and treat others with respect - then things will go better for you.