Hehe, it’s become a catch all term for young whiners. Same as snowflakes. Those that melt under a little heat.
You know what, there were plenty of those guys when I was your age too. Work hard, listen to those with experience and you should do fine.
I agree with you on the contests. Those were the scheduled events that everyone looked forward to annually and came back for but they also had a two-edged effect.
The winners and runner ups would get such positive notoriety from them that it led to work which led to less time for activities such as posting long responses to websites. 
One specific example, the Master Servant challenge. Kris Costa won the 3D and Linda Bergkvist won the 2D. Both of them were active contributors that a lot of people enjoyed reading. After they won they got so busy, they just didn’t have time anymore. That kept happening year after year.
It’s not the only cause. Just one among many.