This model, in practice, and I proved it already in practice: keeping some stake to reward your community (consumer base, call it whatever labels don't matter) is a good idea. It's an incentive for them to be here, viewing, and engaging. In a "perfect" world, that's on top of what your community is busy rewarding one another. However, due to lack of consumers, we never see thousands of upvotes on comments under posts. Yet that's what I envision.

I disagree about the reward pool. I think it's a great tool. However, much like a knife, it cuts better if you use the sharp side. Current approach, neglecting the role of the consumer, is using the dull side.

Consumers don't want to "curate". This is commonsense. They just want to support what they like. That approach isn't being used here. Works great everywhere else though. Take a show like Why Files on Youtube. Watch him roll the credits at the end of the show. OMG