Gamification has a lot of value in social media simply because it helps make a venue "sticky," and when you're part of something like your Leagues... there's also a building sense of community there... you feel like you are part of something.

I know you give away prizes every week, but that really hasn't been in the picture for me... I don't have the social media time to be competitive in that (I think the highest I have ever finished — so far — was 28th), but I still love checking in to see who's leading, and whether we have any "hot newcomers."

I believe the @steemcommunity witness does add value; I would suspect most of your critics have technical developer blockchainiac leanings. My response to that would be "What good is a smoking hot blockchain if nobody's out there pounding the pavement to get actual USERS for it?" As I may have said before... that's akin to building a souped-up Ferrari in a small village in Alaska that has no paved roads.

=^..^=