I suppose Steve what you might need to consider is a situation where you are the receiver of this soft censorship.
Imagine that you came to place of free expression where people said we can talk about all the types of guitars we like and we can respect all music.
Then you find that they only like Taylors and they generally favour Modern Pop while consistently downvoting Jazz and blues?
You happen play blues.
You came in here gung ho and every time you make a fuss about it, you are told to stop being so selfish.
It's called gas lighting.
There is real shit going on that is contrary to what Hive is meant to represent.
The reason that many people came on here, invested their time and their money.
Thus the exodus.
I hope you can see my point.
I suppose Steve what you might need to consider is a situation where you are the receiver of this soft censorship.
Imagine that you came to place of free expression where people said we can talk about all the types of guitars we like and we can respect all music.
Then you find that they only like Taylors and they generally favour Modern Pop while consistently downvoting Jazz and blues?
You happen play blues.
You came in here gung ho and every time you make a fuss about it, you are told to stop being so selfish.
It's called gas lighting.
There is real shit going on that is contrary to what Hive is meant to represent.
The reason that many people came on here, invested their time and their money.
Thus the exodus.
I hope you can see my point.
EDIT: add to this scenario that, blues and jazz has been censored all on all other platforms around the world and there are very limited places where you can express it, find like minds and be appreciated.
I'm not sure anyone feels that strongly about music on Hive, but I sort of get your point. I have had all my rewards wiped out before, but others supported me and I got over it. Some people have had one big downvote to cancel out a rancho vote and they cry about it forever, whilst making far more than they lost on later posts.
I can't keep track of all the feuds and rivalries on Hive, but I have seen people persist with fighting and name-calling that is not going to help their case. If you antagonise someone they may opt to remove your rewards. They are only human.
Hive is imperfect, but it's worth defending. I do feel for good people who feel they are unfairly treated, but there is little I can do. Meanwhile I have been supporting loads of people and they seem to appreciate it.
If you are going to post about controversial topics then you are free to do that on Hive, but some may think it's BS and not worthy of rewards. Anyone could create a front end that ignores downvotes and displays everything if you want to avoid 'censorship'.
Is there really an 'exodus' or just a few pissed off people going off to Blurt or Steem? You can do what you like on those.
I really don't have all the answers, but I think we can still discuss these topics to see what others think.