that was an extremely interesting post. you started out very generic then it was all about our society and finally into steemit.
Our whole society competes, but also cooperates and shares in different tasks to get more things done. i think the key here would be the healthy competition and at the same time cooperation. If the competition is in terms of how i will ''destroy'' my potential ''enemies'' then us society we are doomed but if we look at how we gonna get better from the other just by using our own strength and power and even cooperation with others then we succeed

As far as it concerns about the questions related to steemit the attention i took was both from the networking and by my content itself. At the end of the day i thing with steemit's current form everyone need to network with others and make relationships with them. Through building new friendships he/she will both earn more and make himself/herself try for better content even more as now his/her new friends are watching. At the same time if the networking is only for the sake of money then it will fail

To your final questions the answer once again is both. I believe the first one should be the step-stone but in a way the second ''tactic'' it's unavoidable. At the end of the day it's up to us to always strive for the best both for us and the platform. only that way is viable i believe. the sort term one has sort term end ;)