Having just carefully read the blue paper (and invested another grand - link) I finally 'get' the argument by steeminc that the future of steem lies in the applications which will be built on the blockchain, but possibly hosted 'off blockchain' - things like @steemonsters and the hunt (future SMT hopeful) initiative for example.

So the key thing I think which is going to add value is all of those people beavering away innovating new projects which will integrate with steem.

IF the success of these future applications depends on steemit being a reliable and credible source of information, and if mass adoption of said applications depends on people joining steemit and investing in steem, then we should all be doing our bit to make sure that the best content is rewarded... all of what you say above! And that the worst kind of self-promoters and extractors are being policed.

Because as it stands at the moment - it's a very unappealing place for newcomers to be!

Having said that, I guess it's possible that we don't even need steemit to be successful for future apps to be successful... I mean in 10 years time I could just collect my rewards via steemhunt, play steemmonsters and basically ignore everything going on on 'steemit', so maybe we just don't need to worry about the fact that so many people on here do nothing to contribute besides whoring out their SP to anyone with an ego big enough to buy votes.

Anyway, this is an interesting question, I might bash out a post on it myself, but that'd take about a month to write if I were to do a half decent job of it.