Thanks, I like the fact that you are questioning how things work and looking for better ways to make our experiences here exciting and rewarding.
I have done none of what you suggest; no promoting, a few resteems that I wanted to make certain I have in my Blog, so that I can re-examine whenever I want (and it keeps me aware of the name of the poster, since names of followers are too many for them to mean much), and, as for the bots, I see them, when I'm in a good mood I may give it one upvote, but otherwise, the pleasures I get from Steemit are:
a) Posting my stories (I know that nobody reads them, but it does not matter, though I admit, their loss is not my gain).
b) Exploring posts by others and meeting some wonderful (and wonderfully interesting) people. Being the typical elderly man on a pension, I spend my days in my room, only going out for groceries, so this aspect is very important to me.
c) I know there was a (c), but I've forgotten what it was...oh yes! I get to see some amazingly good art, read poems and stories by others and, the most exciting for me, is that I rarely find someone with talent who is just starting out and I am offered the opportunity to encourage them. The talent of each new generation is the promise of close to eternal life for Mankind that I search for
I see those who concentrate on following everyone and their rep goes up fast, without any original posting, but I do not envy them. I only envy those with talent. I hope your ideas help them, for many of them need Steemit to enable them to concentrate on their talent, rather than holding some shitty, soul-numbing job.
On their behalf, I thank you for your attempts and interest.
What a great summary! If only more people had your wisdom! Thanks!