This is how i see steemit since i joined in.
1.Minnows ,why whales dnt follow you,upvote you or resteem,comment your posts?
The answer is simple.You are not worth it,sadly.Its very difficult to bring a valuable viewer to your steemit blog...but it is not impossible.The other reason they rather upvote,comment and resteem their whales/dolphins friends posts instead is becuse their vote power is much better than yours,so they exchange upvotes and comments between them.They do the same for each other and receive more steem dollars and more steem power.Its a simple and easy profit.Of course some of them do integrate and are interested in minnows posts but mainly whales help dolphins and whales but minnows are left alone.
2.Is the content of your post important?
Yes, of course, it has a big impact on your blogs value but what i can see on here its not always true....
3....Why ?
Some minnows post very interesting posts and they are left behind those who post some crap,stupid things,like guy who is presenting his gym workout and not explaining how,why and what to do to get best results.He only shows his trening session. But somehow he is a whale and get more upvotes,comments and his blog is growing and earning dollars on all of his posts.He is higher in steemit hierarchy than the guy who is only a minnow but presenting his gym workout and explaining everything from the scratch ...how ,why ,when ,what to do to get better results.
This is only an example but if you look round there is many more,when whales publish uninteresting and unvaluable posts and they still get more $$$$ for it that a minnow who really gives a very valuable information.
4.Is there mafia on steemit?
I call it MAFIA because there is a few community groups on steemit who rulles this platform.Thy have a very large community and they support each other only,if not only then mainly.Like 
5.Discord chat, use it or dnt use it....?
Its a good place to interact with other people but...the MAFIA rulles it too!
They own chat rooms,they have their own rulles.They say they help other steemit users and minnows especially by lets say choosing the post of a day.I doubt it.
...well they do help to interact with other users but will you as minnow get a lot of upvotes or comments or views from their discord chat marketing....no really.You will get a few and if you are very lucky you may get a comment or upvote but it dsnt happen often.On top of it this chat is packed with people who postpromote their blog on there but there is so many of them and they upload links so quick that no one is able to read the titles or click on it sometimes.Discord is the place where you can spend some time talking to other people if you are online life,virtual life,internet and social media addict!!!! You can but in most of cases you wont gain much from it as a normal user.
6.Is steemit different that FB,Instagram or Twitter?
Dnt know really because i never used it but from my knowledge its just another social media platform.The difference is you can earn money on it much easier than on other platforms ,only if the cryptocurrency wont be banned, illigal or lose its value.Dnt forget this platform is based on cryptocurrency and paying/exchanging virtual tokens for a real money of your steemit account is a bit complicated but stop worrying about it until you get to the top of steemit hierarchy .
7.How to get followers?
Dnt beg for upvotes ,dnt write stupid comments and upload interesting content! Include your posts links in comments.You can also create your own chat room in discord chat if you make enough friends ,invite them to the chat,exchange tips,links,upvotes etc etc.You can also be fake and publish some stupid comments just to get a follower.Who said you cannot?! you are under a radar on the other side of deskopt.Post what you want but the best way is being yourslef.
8.So how can i progress and how can i earn from it?
Personally im not a virtual life freak.
I dnt spend hours on FB or other social media crap...because I prefer face to face human intaraction.I dnt even have FB account or any other social media account! Im here because i hoped i can earn on it.I my situation it may happen slowly or not at all,it depends how much effort ill be putting in it,but if you like internet life,if you see nothing apart from computers deskopts then this place can make you money and if you are IT developer freak then it definitely can bring you cash.Normal users need to give it a lot of time and post interesting information and sooner or later you will progress and possibly you may make some money on it.Make a valuable friends who have same interest like you,dnt beg for comment or upvotes.Be patient be yourself and concentrate on quality,or be a licking ass user ,be fake and write fake comments,follow any one, every one and it can also add some value to your blog.You need to keep trying.Some say quality over quantity but what about posting the same article few times in different categories....I know users who did it and they published one post at 8am and earned nothing then they published exactly the same post next day at 6pm and they earned 10$ ...so as you can see it works and you can try it.Dnt listen and try different methods yourself.Its a long and time consuming process,but you definitely can progress its just more difficult for minnows as they are left behind a big fish.You can take a part and play contest...this is the best way to get dollars.I you are a blogger and have experience in writing and publishing articles or as i mentioned earlier IT freak, then its an easy way to make some extra money.
This is how i see steemit at the moment.I will try posting some other points of views in future.