As the platform grows there will naturally be less community-minded users and more looking to profit (without giving back to the community).
Logic tells me this is correct but it might not be the case. There are a couple reason that it could turn out differently.
To start, if the common mindset on here is that of community, altruism, and helping each other out, those who enter with the selfish mindset stand out. You are right, we could be overrun with people who are like that and hence, get overwhelmed ourselves.
Which brings up the second point, the financial system is designed in such a way that people who are selfish have a tough time succeeding. There are a few but they end up being ostracized. Again, that could change with the numbers yet there are many who are acquiring more SP each day who do not have this mentality. As their accounts grow, so does their influence.
Which again points to the middle class. For most, interaction with a whale is a rare occasion and this will only grow to with more people. Hence, the middle class will be looked to with greater influence since they have some numbers. It is easier to find one of the 4,000 Dolphins versus 35 whales. So what is the mindset of the Dolphins...down the road, they are the ones who could have the day-to-day power since they are on here and, in comparison to the newer people joining, have the influence.
I love the idea, above by @cryptoeater, but I think on the whole, STEEM desparately needs to be simplified - especially the money/rewards aspects.
For any social platform to achieve mass adoption, there needs to be as little friction as possible when first joining. I'm about a month in now, and every time I find an answer to a question I have about the platform, it opens up another can of worms. I have so many cans open, I can't keep track of them all - and I consider myself to be relatively tech/social media-savvy and fairly intelligent.
Finally, I understand your point completely about dolphins and middle-classes needing the scope to grow, but [without wanting to get political] I think you/we need to stay away from calling them "the middle class" - it's never nice to hear as a member of the "lower classes" ;)
This is one of the main reasons why I believe that Zappl and D.Tube will be the apps, at present, that feed more people to this blockchain. Steemit is simply more complicated and a larger learning curve for people. There is a time that it takes to not only learn the compensation/reward system, but how to use the site. At least on the other two apps, one can focus upon that since the apps are relatively straightforward compared to the traditional ones.
And I use middle class as an economic term.....
And those in the lower classes, on STEEM at least, wont be there for long if we are successful in what we are doing.
Great! So there's more to come, too! ;) LOL
I think this is what's going to hold Steemit back, and possibly STEEM too (depends on the apps built on top). It has to be ultra-simple to explain and understand. The more friction, the more people give up. Look at Twitter - even that's seen as too complicated for many people.