Sometimes you just have to do what you know is best or what excites you regardless of those around. Always going to be condescending jerks and arrogant privileged asshats. Can't let that stop you from doing good/fun stuff.
I've not been around as long as most and I truly enjoy this platform. But I've came very close to quitting it many times already. Not so much because of things that happen to me, but things I see whales doing to others or just things about the platform in general that I don't like. Single downvotes cancelling out hundreds of upvotes. The railing against self voting or vote trading... only to see them doing it to each other. Or the botting, claiming it is for the good of the platform, then not apologizing to those it harms.
Personally I want Hive to do well and am somewhat invested. Though I still think there are a few glaring issues with it, especially as a social platform, that is going to stall its growth for a long time.
Thanks for sharing your view. I've definitely taken your stance on doing what I want and pushing through any noise. People usually make judgments because they have no clue what I'm doing, and then make assumptions based on whatever they've experienced in the past themselves. I'm pretty thick skinned, but every once in a while I get a dent in my armor.
Regarding the votes, it just boggles my mind to a painful degree how (insert word here) some of the larger accounts can be, unless they simply don't care about their behavior and just want to keep things comfortable for themselves. Earning short-term is more valuable than building the community up around them to support sustained organic growth. Unfortunately, a bunch of them together with voting power is far too much density to overcome. Instead of investing any money, I've just invested my time for community and entertainment. I've also used it to find motivation for what I do, and help inspire others to try to find more ways to help their local environments/be more resourceful.