It takes all kinds to make this world go round
The kind you are upset with will never feel shame or remorse
No matter what you say, or what you do, they will always play victim and the blame game, because it is never their fault. There's always someone or something that justified their actions.

Steem is bigger than that...

I like that a lot :)
So what would I do with a decent amount of influence?
I suppose what I am doing now on a larger scale. Engage and it is nice to give an upvote and nice upvote with that. I am trying to hit Dolphin hood, then I really want to run a contest because those really kept me in the game initially.
With engagement I look out for some who are new, some who have been around but earn very low, and of course those who also do consistently put out good work and who already have following. And all done manually. I have not to date used a curation trail. Though I must say, it does get overwhelming sometimes when Real Life kicks in. But I have managed so far. :)