Ok, so I'm not the only one who sees this trend. Certainly, I see this place as somewhere I can post my works and get some sort of response other than the generic "That's really good" that my friends offer me.
Right here in the replies to this piece are the very minds that can make something like this work, perhaps, as mentioned, some form of group on this site focusing solely on the works of pre-screened members. In the group, we can then read each other's works, and if one is of particular merit, we can then post a journal or comment someone's page suggesting they read it.
The people who might not particularly write well now should not be ignored, I've been there, I've written a lot of crap (and still do write a lot of crap, IMO). Like Zaphod said, if someone shows a glimmer of hope in something they've written, let them know, because the only way they'll improve is if someone shows them the right direction.
Great job of putting into perspective something many of us have been noticing.