Hmm, yeah, I can see what you mean and relate to how you are feeling with regards to those users who are in this for short-term gains, for sure. But I guess the upside is that we get to see and appreciate those others that are at the other side of the spectrum? :D Haha, like, because we notice those who take-take-take, their behaviours also highlight those that gives back to the system :)

Always silver lining, somewhere! XD;

Um, I think if I was a bit bigger (spider)fish in the ocean, I'd probably just continue to do what I'm doing now. I'm super passionate about manual curation :) and I've curated a lot of meaningful contents in the past year through curie and c-squared/c-cubed, ... which in turn actually made me feel richer because i get to know so many talents and so many stories off Steemit, which had made me gained so many new friends :D :D :D

And I guess I'll continue to give back by featuring others through my blog and through my artist's highlights posted by the c-squared account, ... recently i've managed to encourage a talent that has been neglected for a long time to return and be more engaged by giving them a feature on my blog :D Before the feature, they were earning cents for every post, with not a single post breaking $1 but now they are in the radar of some legitimate curation groups and I'm happy to see them energized at Steemit :D

I also delegate steem powers to new comers, but since I'm not a whale (not even a dolphin), I selected these delegations carefully, but so far, I am happy to have been able to help @arrr, @sadheaven, @platyfolio and @aerozopher :) And I'm always looking to find new joiners to help out ! I think if we can identify the 'right' kind of people to nurture, in the long run, they will also grow to be some one that will also give back to the system, creating an endless feedback loop where every one is circling around to help newer people as they grow.... There is such energy and fulfillment in thinking that each of us are capable of creating ripples on the ocean :D

And finally, I've been sponsoring contests by giving out prizes from my own funds, and yesterday I did a charity post that is designed to generate funds 100% for others in need, but also to create notice on these other accounts through my blog, hopefully passing some of my followers onto them in the process :)

But, really, all in all, what I'm saying is that I have felt really thankful that even bigger accounts have been helping me grow, so in return I can help others (even) smaller Steemians :)

So, thanks @acidyo~ It's been eye opening and really a good chance to reflect for me... I am the type of person that think better if I type things out so to take stock and look back at my Steemit experience, this has been an invigorating moment for me :D

My take away from all of this, in summary: I will continue to do as much as I can because at the end of the day, I have felt so fortunate and so enriched through my experience on this platform :)

Keep on rocking, @acidyo ! :D :D :D