I'm not going to give up on it, either.
Perhaps the best we can do is simply to continue using the venue in the way we feel makes the most sense.
I've made no secret of the reason I found my way here being the resemblance to "social blogging" that was so popular between 1999 and Facebook getting serious traction (2006?). Before MySpace and Facebook made actually SAYING something largely optional and we instead ended up with the current popularity contest soup, people talked about their lives, interests and daily thoughts.
Talked.
In blog format.
And people talked back. People talking back and following was the effect of actually saying something interesting in the eyes of whatever niche you appealed to. What mattered was authenticity, regardless of whether your gig was art, psychology, guns or raising kids.
All I can do is stay true to creating that stage, and hope that those who find that particular approach appealing come for a visit, now and then.
You're coming up on your 8-year mark here; I'm at about 7 1/2. We do what we do.
Sometimes we complain.
But we do what we do.
For me I realized it was a place I could come and entertain an audience. Did that.
Then I realized the audience was stagnating; more people coming as people are leaving.
Then I noticed these are all people trying to be content creators, often struggling to find an audience, and eventually leaving. Very few actual consumers.
Then I realized no matter how hard I try, I won't get any further than the common practices and culture dating back eight years allows.
Being a realistic human, paying attention to the signs, I realized there's no future traveling down the same path, due to things beyond my control.
So I'll stick around, maybe and rarely post some thoughts, but going the extra mile will lead me over a cliff.
It's certainly not a complaint and I don't mind pointing at the problem and offering potential solutions, mainly because I'd prefer to see people and the platform succeed. But it'll always be difficult for people to see it as a problem, since the behavior pays them anyway, regardless.