urgh! That is not a great retention rate. While I can relate to what you are saying about having a more educated userbase, I think that the overall value would certainly be better with more people using the platform. The way it is now this is highly unlikely because it is very difficult to search for content you are interested in using the current categories and what not. I struggle to find things I am interested in because the UX is really quite bad.
I wish I had answers :(
I actually agree regarding our userbase, quite strongly. Communities self organize for various reasons, and we all have room on Steem to coexist to our mutual benefit.