That's actually the problem. User retention is super low because minnows are not getting much audience even if they post good content, i recently wrote a post about it but it also did not receive much views.
This is very demoralising which is leading to lack of interest by new users, as if a person is writing a post which is consuming his/her whole day but still nobody is viewing it, then you can imagine the amount of frustation.
Other platforms don't provide the money but atleast you will get praise for your work and that is more than 2-3 $ which minnows receive for their posts.
RE: Is Money the Main Ingredient in Steemit's Retention Ratio?