So by the looks of things there was a 50/50 split when Hive left steemit. An uptake of activity when Splinterlands migrated but regular blogging stagnated. If the system has essentially evolved (devolved) to be "CURATION REWARDS are the bees knees" then how is that going to fuel growth?

Won't this essentially exist as a few committed communities (such as makeup, onchainart, OCD etc) and then everyone else existing as parasites sucking the blood out of rewards to the point where Authors eventually lose their ability to stay committed to working for the benefit of others?

So many of the charts are flat lining so if no great developments/advancements are introduced how is this going to return to that peek of 2018 when what attracted activity was a) Price b) Hype of "social media with rewards is revolutionary."

Even if HF24 creates a double rainbow.
Who is even aware of that coming release outside of this platform? What changes are getting marketed to potential investors and userbase to then regenerate a positive cycle of new activity?

Of course the lucky few make their profits regardless, but the life of this chain is at risk if those lucky few have lost the passion to keep pushing. Lost the interest to be a team of committed members that are actively introducing new believers to the system.

Steemfest. Hivefest.
Has covid killed both?

No business sense here.
Maybe in closed chatrooms there's such talk..
But again, who hears or sees that outside of the Hive bubble.