I have been on Steem since almost 2016, then Hive, and so far I have not seen any progression in 7 years for mainstream penetration.
Anyway, my point I still like Hive and I plan to keep growing my account.
Agree with you on that... I'm not here that long, but I am enough long to notice that too... IMO, we have made some bad decisions on HIVE and that's limiting our growth, but on the other side, HIVE doesn't need some huge expansion that we see token movements up... It will never be a new Facebook, but it can be (and it is) a good decentralized platform where you can share your opinions...
In the end, HIVE is changing and evolving with every next hard fork and who knows where it will go... It's on us to create a good direction and to influence with our stakes...
Have a great Sunday!