My earnings were down last month, despite me publishing more. It seems impossible to maintain a good result, and I do think the new countries had a massive detrimental impact on what some of us earn - and our visibility.

I don't know about members or non-members. I think the only way to tell is the star - not the people they follow.

It is frustrating though! I think the AI is taking a lot because they get visibility by auto-clapping and auto-commenting, as you've pointed out. And people fall for it.