I don’t know about soft blackball lists, but I do feel like it’s a struggle here at times.
You have to have a dedicated audience and if I am not using the right hashtags, I get nowhere.
If I post via APPICS, I will barely make 20 cents while people rave about how good it is.
The only place I have made any real money is via Splinterlands and I too have yet to take any Steem out of the ecosystem. The local exchange wants a minimum of AU$50 (240 Steem), and the price of Steem is so bad that no one at our local Steem meetings wants to sell it.
You were here before I started and it’s sad to see people leave platform, but at the same time if that platform isn’t serving you like it should then alternatives need to be sought out.