I think that it is quite difficult to quantify 'a contribution to the ecosystem' because ultimately, the biggest thing that benefits everyone, is more buyers of Steem tokens than sellers.

There is more than a few, and you can probably even find some of them, some people have tried to shine the spotlight on them, people who have invested in steem, in order that they can score curation rewards, and then shortly after, are powering down and cashing out.

And it is also very problematic that this commonly expressed wish to win big vote scores and post rewards, do you think these people are just powering up their steem? HAH!

No. But, on the bright side, there is a dynamic at play that takes time to manifest. There is small investors, and those who are just trying to work their way up by posting good, upvoted posts, who are seeking to accumulate as much vested SP as they can, because ultimately, this platform lives or dies according to how much people are willing to hold in it. SP does not go up or down no matter how vote rewards are divvied out. SP also takes a long time to cash out. The pump and dump whale investor crowd, are gonna be feeling pretty stupid as they discover they have to wait 2 years to get all their SP back out after they powered up to become whales.

I think it's absolutely genius how the system was designed. Waving the flag for steem, in whatever form it may take, is the best way to win, in the long game, the most rewards. The Crab Buckets metaphor is intended to explain it, but sadly most people on here don't understand it. The smart contracts in the system reward those who seek to expand the system, and punish those who are stupid enough to think this is just another random cryptocurrency they can game and skim a profit off the top without actually investing in it.

It will take time for it all to shake out.