I think once the person stays in one place for long enough, he or she will do whatever they can to be territorial and then find faults at everything new that comes. That seems to be the case with some people and this could be one reason it could affect Hive.
Too much social and people at the top would cut the head off the person who is climbing to become them, in this case whales. So people who are joining now should stay below whales otherwise hive is harder neighbourhood to survive. Sometimes it feels like whales, top accounts are like mafias on street. You have to move past them to survive here. And I don't think this will change any time soon.
There have been some amazing whale accounts that have done so much for this chain. But at the same time, I agree...Some scare others away.
It's why I'm trying to hard to get the message across that votes matter. Upvotes, voting for witnesses etc...That's how real change happens. New members should be celebrated.