Hive is imperfect and pretty small. You still have to work to get noticed and build your community. I would hope you got some benefit from going to the Hamburg event.
The 'quality' thing can be over-egged. I think if your content is original and people genuinely like it then that's enough. There will be some who churn out junk posts, but will work with others to get some votes regardless. Hive needs to get big enough so that the opinions of the community are enough to make the good stuff get good rewards.
Others say that ease of use is an issue, but it has improved. People need some guidance at the start.
I'm glad you've stuck with it and I hope you get some value. It's not just about money.
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