I wish I could upvote this twice. Great points!
I totally agree that account ownership a huge benefit that should be discussed more often. It is way more important than the value of the cryptocurrency. Of course, I've been as guilty as anyone about stressing the value of the crypto, since I publish a Web3 social media earnings report every month. But without account ownership, it wouldn't matter how much one earns. Account ownership is what allows users to claim that crypto and keep it safe.
Another good point you make is about the quality of participants. As long as crypto and its underlying value is what community members stress, the people attracted to Hive will be those bent of sucking the value out of it and leaving it dry. Spammers and scammers. Those are the people we want less of. We want people who will come with a mindset that says, "What can I contribute to make this a better community?" Ask not what your social media platform can do for you; rather, ask what you can do for your social media platform.
You're right that four years is still young. Dan Larimer's dream, however, is older than that. It's been eight years since Steemit launched. That means Hive has been around for as long as Steemit had when it forked. If it can survive for five years, it should have long-term staying power. I can hardly wait to see what it looks like ten years from now.
Thanks for the comment and words of encouragement. If we can somehow position Hive as a place for developers, we might begin to see more measurable value added than extracted.