It's not just the false productivity that haunts Steem(it), it's also the ambition by the developers who have much more in their mind and tend to not take care of Steemit in a systematic way. There are also way too powerful tools to destroy users and that are abused by some (-> berniesa). And there are also complexities and uncertainties embedded in the system itself that could potentially harm and destroy the blockchain in the future like the Steem/SBD confusion, the fact of SBD being fiat (and potentially Steem also becoming one).
But so far, my opinion is that there is way too much to lose as that Steem could possibly be written off. The ride it seems is just beginning.
I am optimistic overall, but I agree that a lot of the largest stakeholders are getting overly ambitious and trying to build too rapidly without establishing a sound foundation.