Interesting post and good analogy. Personally I have been using whales for awhile now on this platform and the importance of them has been imperative to my early growth and success on this platform. However, the whales use algorithms for payouts and voting and some of them pay less than what you give so they can actually hurt your growth. I have found the best way to help grow is communicate with others like you mentioned in your post. By growing your platform and building relationships with others and providing services that help others as well as yourself is the best way to grow on this site. I agree that the additional new users each day makes it harder to grow but if you stick to your game plan and continue to post quality posts you will see your reputation and followers grow.