The main problem is that 98% of those who come in only do it for the possible earnings and not because they genuinely want to have a blog. So the moment the earnings go down they leave along with them or continue with minimum effort which often already wasn't that high. As much as I like Hive as it perfectly suits my needs, I don't think the overall model is good enough to properly work.
This said, I do believe it has a niche audience that will always be there which will keep the chain alive. It's hard though to see it ever go anywhere near mainstream even though I would love it to happen one day.
The overall model of Hive is not perfect, but everyone goes through humbling when it comes to web3. It's the wild wild west there. Over expectations kills the possibility of exploration and betterment.
Anyone cares about Hive, knows the place can literally get better and we've been talking about this all these while, but the witness system can be slow and redundant.
Hive doesn't really need to go mainstream, I just feel that it just needs some decent traction, it doesn't need the whole wide world.
I agree, it's just fine if Hive remains a niche platform that continues to exist and at least hold up and slowly grow over time. I would sign for that.