Hi @eathekaos,
That was very kind of you to add me as the beneficiary on this post. Thank you.

I was unaware that you made a post on this topic or I would have commented sooner. You bring up some good points here about the Steem ecosystem. Dlive definitely impacted Steem in a negative way with their snatch and grab move, but in the big scheme of things I do not see it as a major impact on Steem. (at least in the long run.)

Dtube definitely seems to only vote a select "in group" which is very discouraging to users who are trying to create a vlog of any type. It's certainly disheartening to musicians who pour their heart out into their music and get zilch from the platform.

In my humble opinion @threespeak is the best for vlogging (and the newest.). They are very fair with curating, and despite having to pay a monthly premium (a pretty low one), you will generally make your monthly investment back in 1-3 uploads (depending on whether or not they curate you, and/or how big of a vote.) Overall they seem very fair to me, and some long time motivated Steemians who believe in Steem are involved in the project.

Consistency is pretty important too. I've not created any videos in some time now, but I try to post at least a couple of times a week. Some are able to do it daily, but for some of us that is kind of tough.

Yeah there was a pretty heavy pre-mine, which many have an issue with, but.. Not much we can do about it, and with enough effort and engagement there is an opportunity here for us to make some decent Steem rewards. If Steem ever moons it will have been worth it to many of us who've worked hard at it, and if not.. Well everything in life is calculated risks and learning experiences, so no regrets :)

Thanks again friend.