And people that are not in the "cool kids" group are economically disadvantaged because, even if their contributions are valued, they get on the offside with the powers that be?

When you have people with power over someone else, power to ban, power to economically injure, you end up, almost without fail, with sycophantic groupings.

People only praise those with the power, and anyone foolish enough to disagree, no matter how accurate, are punished.

Something Awful pulled this off with a $10 lifetime subscription, cheap enough that most can afford it, but it's expensive enough that a bot farm wouldn't bother, and the admins are quick with suspensions and bans if you act like an asshole.