I think we all came for the same thing, money. The first time I was told about a social network that paid me to comment on other posts, make my own and give others a vote of confidence, it was hard to believe until I made my first payment. It was incredible. What holds me here? To be honest, I have searched the internet and I have found a lot of pages that pay (verified) but I come back here every day with more desire to write and it saddens me when I don't. I have cried for those friends who started and then leave. Could it be that they haven't seen the good in Hive? Could it be that if they do better on other platforms? Believe me I have tried many and I always go back to the beginning, to Hive. It could be the people, the variety of niches there are, I don't know, but here I am and hopefully it will be for a long time.
There's many reasons people stay. I think the ones who have the most traction are those who have a few different reasons.