I keep saying that more users will solve a lot of our issues. You need that critical mass to make it an engaging experience across a wide range of interests. I would say that Hive still has advantages over corporate social media in being less restrictive yet offering the potential to get rewards.
I came here with nothing to sell, but I engaged with loads of people and built a following. Nobody has paid me to do anything, but if they like my posts then that's great. I want to have cool stuff on my feed and I've built up enough HP to give reasonable votes.
We need developers too and you are showing that it's a cool place to build. You don't need permission and you gain a free place to store data.
The whales get a lot of flack, but they are put under pressure. Some of them put in a lot of funds and possibly a lot of work too, but with the way things are going they are seeing their stake lose value, so the way things are is not in their interest. Of course some of them have strong opinions on what Hive should be and that may upset some people, but that is what we have and we have to find ways to make it work.
Having more users who each have some stake will spread the voting power out and reduce the power of the whales. I am totally fine with that. I want to see people with great content and apps earning far more than me. My account is only this big due to me sticking around for nearly 10 years. I have bought some $HIVE so I'm not even sure if I am currently in profit. It's mostly fun and that is value for me.