Im not sure I understand your skepticism of where this platform is at, and where its going. Maybe I am naive but it seems to me that there is community here, and that we do support one another.
Yes there are some "circle-jerkers" who just upvote any crap that their allies post, and yes they will always exist. But that is not new to Steem. Those people exist in real life too: they hire their idiot friend over a better qualified candidate, or they defend the bad ideas put forward by their friend, despite better alternatives because of the friendship.
These truthes, and how unfair they make social interaction, do not take away the need and the joy of real life social interactions, any more than circle jerking idiots, upvoting crap posts on Steemit, make Steemit a bad app to use.
I say, avoid those idiots, you wont convince them, and keep talking to those who listen to you, and continue striving to make the world a little better, a little warmer, a little more friendly and genuine, because it isn't big changes that save the world from decent into hell, its the million little things each person does that make life good, and relationships worth while, and that make a platform like Steemit worth investing time and energy into.
Thanks for sharing, I enjoy your content, I am sad to see that you sound disheartened, almost nihlistic about Steemit, and the bad actors within the platform. I hope you are not feeling like giving up.