I don't think it means much at the end of the day. There are also many contests here where people can be given many likes or helpfuls, but of course they have nothing to do with eBay or with really being helpful. Although I only joined recently, I vaguely remember visiting in the past when I had a question I wanted to look up, and the old forum didn't have top helpfuls at all I think? I probably only visited it a couple of times, but I don't think I ever saw top helpfuls.

I am not sure why you care. It won't improve sales or anything and whom you see depends on your settings - the forum you are looking at, the time range etc. It is nice to show appreciation if you like a post or if a post makes you smile, but it doesn't really mean much (like on Facebook or any other social media platform), and personally I liked the old forum better (if my memory of it does not fail me). I mean, it is nice to show appreciation, but it should be more of a personal thing.