I've been on here for 4 years.

For the last 4 months, I've been down voted on every single post (and many comments).

Who by?
The same vindictive and small minded people with big stake who are killing this place.
I was here from nearly the start.

I chose to try and write full time (and where I live, it could fund my lifestyle costs). That is, without the removal of upvotes by people that support my work.

I have plenty of small/medium accounts upvoting me - who like my work, and three or four toxic large accounts down voting me in a very malicious manner (averaging 60 upvotes per one downvote).

I've been driven off the platform by 'muh collective' and I now write elsewhere.

This place , and the behaviors of large stakeholders, is becoming more toxic by the day...(and when I'm talking on twitter about this place - it's not just my perception either).

There is no free market at work here - just stakeholder despotism and subterfuge leading to stake consolidation - not distribution...

The funny thing is - in my case- if I was left to true free market forces (upvoting), I'd still be writing one or two posts a day and interacting.
These toxic account came to my posts, I never had anything to do with these losers.

I won't post much now.
Malicious down voting means free data collection , nothing more.
I can do that on face book.

If the culture changes, I'll be back.
Until then, I'll be talking all about hive, but elsewhere (where free speech is not financially censored).

...if dynamite were brains, some of the large stakeholders on here couldn't manage to blow their noses, using actions as a metric.

Rant over.