Another major issue I come across is that the data is simply not present to improve in the first place. One way I’d really love to see this (and a host of other issues including OSM awareness, data quality, and user agency) be addressed is with streamers on Twitch (et al).
Someone who’s got a better setup than I do could easily start a stream and map viewer requested areas. You’d drum up awareness by having someone map (and potentially get paid for it!), show others how the process is done, available editors, why they should care, and encourage others to get on the platform

While I agree StreetComplete is a decent starting point for newbs, I think we should also look to other avenues that may be more passive, a la twitch streams and youtube tutorials to give people ideas of how to actually do what they want to (describe parts of the ID editor, how to set up JOSM, change goals on StreetComplete or MapRoulette, etc) in easily digestible formats so they aren’t apprehensive about making changes to something that’s visible globally

I think we also need to add a reason why people should care about adding detailed data (like whether a bench has a backrest). Right now the only tool I know of that can make use of that kind of info is the Overpass QL, which is awesome, but not exactly user friendly. I’d love to see some kind of tool that a 4 year old could get the answer to “where’s the nearest ice cream shop that’s close to a toy store” - those kinds of answers would give people reasons to contribute