as long as the post is under $1 or less

This seems like the saddest part, from experience anyone posting regularly (and consistent quality) gets $1 within the first hour. However lack of comments can be more discouraging, especially for anyone used to other platforms. They might not even expect payouts, but the lack of visibility is kind of problematic.

Communities were a great addition, since they make it easier to discover interesting content. However, more personalized recommendations would be neat, other than the users we follow. Or maybe a way to filter posts, I remember curie has a website like that last year, filtering posts based on word count, pictures, words, payout, etc. Making that available to everyone would maybe help? People that are happy with their current earning they might not care about doing any extra steps, but smaller accounts might find content they can enjoy and interact with. Having more comments can be really motivating and finding like minded people.

Edit: I tried curating last year and it was so much harder than I imagined. Made me respect curators way more and it's really worth for others to give it a try just to see what it's like.