I think what we are all missing here is that Steemit is awfully young and people who want to take advantage of it will definitely do so now because they see it as an opportunity.
After spending more than five years on Reddit (my job also revolves around it) I always thought what would happen if you monetize content in a way Steemit did, even before the platform went live, and I guess I got my answer. We had more people coming in for the opportunity to make an easy buck than the actual contributors who just wanted to support the platform. I am not a regular here but whenever I have something to write about, this is the first place I come to.
I can proudly say that I did my part in spreading awareness about the platform as well. On the top scoring links list on Reddit, that came from Steemit I hold 3 out of 10 top places and the most upvoted article came from my account. Since I'm in the marketing business I encouraged a lot of clients to open an account here and had some of my content published on their blogs as well.
I personally love this place but I don't have enough time to invest in it. I bet that is the case with most people. Steemit needs time to grow and become relevant. Another bull run like 2017 and you will have people coming here from all corners of the internet. The whole crypto space is in a state of depression and that reflected things here as well.
The bottom line is - people don't have enough incentive to stay here. As you said, the content got boring and repetitive, people expected too much from Steemit and the reality is that there are a lot of alternatives out there. Only a handful of people actually understand how big Steemit can be in the future and most of them don't respect the privilege to be a part of the "blockchain pioneers".
Lastly, to answer your question - I would probably continue doing the same but a lot more frequently.
RE: AskSteem: If one were to help grow your account, what would you do for Steem in return?