Being #3 for a short moment during the hype it had at the time does not mean much, it's a weird number to keep mentioning and comparing to. I can tell you a lot of "competitors" at the time that are now dead or past rank 200 and many more that are attempting to do better yet somehow fail.

Social media in general needs a certain userbase until things go vertical, not to mention Steem's inflation compared to others. It's easier mining Steem than proof of work tokens, that's for sure.