I've even seen people in the introduction section writing how they quit their full-time jobs, etc...
That sounds more like part of Steem's marketing plan than actual real life people writing about it. And that worked of course: seeing someone earn $30k from writing an unimportant story on some unimportant website makes people think they can do it too. The problem there is only a few can earn a lot, the rest is just wasting their time.
I've has a look at it, pretending to be a great social network, while in reality it's a website designed to make the creators rich, and they decide exactly what you get to see.
And when it fails, the next thing will pop up. "Social media" and "smart contracts" are the new altcoins, only meant to make the creators rich.
Nothing wrong with getting rich out of it BTW, but it is important to realize when you use it. And it is especially important to realize when you decide to spend money on it.
It's different with Synereo. With Synereo, you get to choose exactly what you see. Nobody decides what you can or cannot see. There is no centralization. Your attention gets rewarded via AMPs on amplified content. Everyone will earn money fairly in proportion to their attention and actions. Synereo is social media and social contracts done right.