Very interesting examples!

Instead of bringing them to Steem(it), we should bring Steem to their platforms. For free, effortlessly, but we will adopt their users, overnight.

This is what Smart Media Tokens should be used for...
EOS is doing just this. Tapatalk which unites 300 Million monthly active users from (expert)Forums all around the world, migrates to EOS. Many small expert-forums as you said are more valuable than a middle-sized network without expertise. I mean Steem(it) is no social-media like Facebook. This is a different animal. And as you said...we kind of don't realy know what we are (reddit? Medium? Twitter?).

Simply putting out those SMTs, so that Medium and Co could implement them, would be easier than redesign Steem(it) it self. Agree with @walkerlv bullrun will bring the same situation like in 2017. Prices let people forget what worth creation means. But you sure that steemit is still alive? Yesterday we had a low in active users. 4.500 people world-wide (bots included).