I quit the 'three a day travel challenge' because some of them were getting to feel 'reused'. When I did mine I chose 3 photos from a trip or a place and unless I were really unlucky the photos had probably never been published together before.
I really like the idea of 'recycling' long since really good posts (and this one qualifies). But I really dislike the abuse that goes with reusing. I have some really good previously published posts that I'd like to revisit, but I'll only do so with a serious rewrite.
So the short answer is "I don't know". I know that I appreciate the pursuit of the 'pro copy paste' people. I've had stuff I've written copy/pasted which really makes me crazy.
I used to take part in photography contests when I started, but as I began to get rewarded more, I stopped as i felt that the effort I put in wasn't enough to warrant the rewards from autos. I rarely post what I consider crap content, as I have spent far too long building up a reputation on the platform for being able to deliver quality or useful -and I don't mean the broken rep system numbers :)
I don't know either, but I think it should be up to creator discretion - and audience choice - at least to some degree. the problem is the separation as there is plenty of abuse that flies under the radar