Hi. I'm a total newbie to Steemit too. Like you said I love the idea of good content being rewarded, but I have been puzzled by some of the high-earning posts that had my eyes closing towards the end of the first sentence.

I didn't realise some of the 'charity' posts were scams, I just ignored them because I assumed quality content simply wouldn't need any charity regardless of the Steemer's ranking/status.

Some posters also seem to be going for a quantity over quality method by posting many, many, many things that they've found around the internet. I never reward those types of posts simply because to me the whole point of Steemit was to publish user-generated content.

I like the idea of invitation-only access even though it might limit exposure for a while. I think it could be worth it in the long run to get engaged users who will form a stable bedrock going forward.

Just my two cents.