Yes it is an investment in Steem. I expect the value of my Steem to go up in time whether or not I post. The value of all my other investments will not go up if I don't work on them.
I invest in ICO's, have some long term holds in undervalued coins and also do some scalping.
I know the fancy mark up in annoying, takes a while to figure out. When this learning curve is made smaller for newcomers, as in a LOT smaller as it should be, then I foresee that to be a big step forward.
For sure, agree re the learning curve. The trend seems to be the simpler, the greater the mass adoption. I hope that day comes sooner than later.
Best of luck to you and your ICO/long term holds!