Who knows what he needs. It's a 50/50 shot.
I don't see why he purchased it just to kill it, how will that boost Tron's value? Even if he's releasing a social platform there are plenty out there including Minds, Cent, Publish0x, and Voice is coming out.
I currently see Steemit as a tool to help grow Tron and get him more users. I think he sees this as Tron helps Steem and Steem helps Tron, but I could be wrong.