The initial plan was to use the social rewards to bootstrap an economy built around the community that forms around it so it wasn't an end in an of itself. In part that is taking place.

In my opinion the success of the social layer depends on 3 factors:

• Scalability (needed to be able to onboard millions of users).
• Enticing social apps.
• Marketing

Steemit Inc did not follow trough and in hindsight was just an obstacle with the mismanagement of the development fund.

I think that it can be done but it's up to all of us now instead of a centralized entity to guide the process.

LeoFinance is a good proof of concept on how a social rewards platform can function.