Great analysis, couldn't agree more. I think otherwise you risk an incredibly imbalanced hierarchy (as you noted) or a lack of continuously meaningful interactions, which Facebook is now suffering from. While obviously we'd all love to see Steem reach FB-like levels, there are perils which we can work to avoid now.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/14/16885314/facebook-news-feed-changes-meaningful-interactions