Hive and peakd specifically has improved the experience tremendously compared to how steemit was when I joined in 2017. I'm massively impressed by the development and improvement made by those contributing their time and efforts. I myself contribute 0 and do not participate in trying to improve!

That said, I do agree that finding hive is difficult, getting an account is complicated for a social network, how it works is complex, confusing and off-putting for a majority.

Focusing foremost on financial gains is rarely successful. As everything about crypto is at the bottom about financial gain, it struggles to become actually useful, of interest and successful. It is also an individual endeavor, making it extra difficult to create a successful social network based on crypto. It is a game of greater fools theory, and as much as I applaud the Hive community and its developers, Hive will not be successful (in terms of content and users) in this environment.