I can relate to a lot of the things you say here, I follow quite a lot of accounts and tend to keep my feed clean so I do notice when some people I some times upvote go missing, but it's easier to notice when they come back, even though that happens less often than those that leave.
I guess time has a way to filter things, the markets probably also. It's the thing with "we're in it for the tech" people that kind of stopped occurring on twitter or other socials that are buzzing about blockchain. It's all about money, gains, pumps, get rich quick and get dopamine quick. Crypto is literally becoming like tiktok in a way, we want in and out and that quick fix but not work for the greater things at the end of the road. Meanwhile those who do work see far better lasting results both here and on web2 while others just become followers hypnotized by the creators.
I don't doubt that this dopamine hit thing that's engulfed the masses may be a big reason why blogging isn't as fun anymore nor does it garner a lot of attention in terms of engagement. I only noticed this post because I'm getting alerts for holozing mentions for instance but not sure if I would've went out of my way to browse for random posts to curate as there's just so much to do these days and hive fosters a more entry-friendly gateway to creators of all kinds making it less rewarding to consume and more rewarding to create, even if you suck at creating and no one cares, there may still be random upvotes flying your way.
Dunno, I'm going a bit off the rails with this comment as well, the world is quite chaotic these days, a lot of fakeness everywhere, fear of an impending doom with war, etc, the economy at ATH yet majority can barely afford decent food.
It might not be hive's time to shine yet but as the world is becoming more and more dystopian with web2 and governments heading that way, I think people will come to appreciate what we have and what can't go away sooner or later and find their way here, hopefully with some still around and still enthusiastic about making this technology be the best it can be without affecting freedom too much.
Anyway, you have a new follower, even though I've seen your username around often there's only so much one can consume and curate manually each day so guess we haven't crossed paths often. But pleasure to do so now!