You are right. This is the best time to earn Steem. I have noticed getting upvotes from new people and thats obviously because there arent many people posting. But in the same time I miss the good days when it was crowded and we had many contests etc. So lets wait for the good days to come again :)
Contests are filler content and will never really build the foundations but, they can be good ways to earn :)
Yes you are absolutely right, but they help newbies. I remember when I first signed up in Steemit I was posting mostly in every contest and it helped me gain some visibility. Also it taught me how to make better photos or write better comments. Somehow it kept people very engaged even if it had really no big meaning :)