There is too much junk and "working the system" with bots, etc. on SteemIt. I think this is hindering mass adoption.

I don't know how often I get on and see a stupid single-image meme that's made $50+, while a minnow who produced amazing content received $0.01. It's very discouraging to new people on Steem.

When I create content, I typically put an hour+ into it. I work to flesh out my thoughts, format my posts, add images, and make posts visually appealing, educational, and entertaining. However, they still usually earn a few pennies.

I also work hard to bring others to the platform. I don't want to share links and feel like I'm spamming your post but I've created content on and off SteemIt that encourages joining Steem and getting involved. I've spread the word on other platforms and mailed email lists of 10s of thousands of people. The feedback I've seen is that it looks like a bunch of junk on first impression. Newer viewers see things like random memes and posts of little value receiving great rewards and posts of high value going unnoticed. It's not too appealing for the first time user, casually browsing the platform. This turns them away quickly. Heck, one of my recent posts had 20+ upvotes  and only earned $0.80. Those were completely legit upvotes too. No gaming the system with bots or anything.

Imagine looking at SteemIt for the first time and seeing lame posts with 5 votes earning $50 and high value posts with 20+ votes earning less than a buck... Would you want to invest your precious time crafting quality content for the platform?

Therein lies the biggest problem with SteemIt at the moment.