I can completely understand what you wrote here and I agree that content isn't the only reason people deserve upvotes. Heck, I upvote people, simply because they're good conversational partners too.
You're right, some people do a lot of things behind the scenes and deserve rewards for that. I'm sure some actually get those and others don't. People don't always notice these contributions, but if they are really that invisible, shouldn't we drag those contributions out into the open more? We've got plenty of members who keep going up there in Trending. Why not have them shine the spotlight on some valuable, behind the scenes members?
What I don't completely agree on is the fact that the early birds should be constantly rewarded for being the first ones. Yes, they got in first and put their faith into a platform. However, from what I've seen, posts from the early days got crazy high payouts, compared to now. Isn't that their reward? They've managed to build up their earnings really fast here, while an average newbie struggles to even get $1.00 payouts now.
Yeah, some people are here, simply to cash in when the price is right. However, not all of our low earning minnows are new and not all of them quit when things get rought. There are plenty here that have pumped out posts every single day for over half a year and they are still struggling to get seen. They don't leave when things get tough. Yes, they vent sometimes, but can you really blame them? By now, they've been here half as long as the first members have. By next year, that difference is only a quarter. How long do the first members have to be carried on hands and feet for being the first? Who even qualifies as being the first? I'm sure if Steemit is still here, 10 years from now, all of us current members will all be considered the first.
So when is someone seen as a loyal member? I've been here about 8 months now and have never stopped posting more than a few days, due to vacation, where I refuse to go online. I help plenty of people out aswell, but I do it through comments, because I don't know how all of this 'behind the scenes' stuff works. Am I a loyal member? Or will I never be, because I hadn't heard of Steemit 6 months before I joined? Or because I'm not a programmer or other useful backstage person?
(P.S. Not meant to be personal, I'm just using myself as an example here.)