Build a system where...

1. Articles cannot be downvoted by others, regardless of reputation. Allow only upvoting of articles and comments. That way the articles with the most votes will truly be the best articles. As it now stands with Steemit, there is no correlation between an article's quality and the net votes it receives since downvoting by high-reputation members carry such a huge weight.

2. All votes carry equal weight. Votes of a higher-reputation members should not carry more weight than those of lower-reputation, simply because reputations on Steemit are bought rather than earned. That is a major flaw with the Steemit platform.

3. Curator payouts are equally divided among all curators, and not simply favor those with higher reputations and more steem power.

4. Porn is completely from the site, as does Google, Facebook, Instagram, Seeking Alpha, and all other reputable platforms. Allowing porn degrades any platform to the point where most members will simply abandon it. It's just a matter of time.

...there are many others I could give, but I think you can get the point form those. Steemit is simply not an enjoyable or desirable place to be, and will likely not survive much longer regardless of the success of the Steem blockchain or Steem coins.