I hate to say it, but as far as I can tell, X is already on the slippery slope towards Idiocracy!
Of course the lure of "money for nothing" is not new to the world. I'm an old fart, and I tell you it was just as rampant in the 1980s, with chainletters, scams, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes and more... and people were plowing $100s into these, rather than trying legitimate business opportunities that actually worked.
I think the lesson for Hive — if there IS a lesson here — is to embrace the fact that this is a niche venue and the whole idea that we would ever be competitive with Facebook, Insta, YouTube, X and so forth is a pipe dream.
From a marketing efficiency perspective, being AWESOME to 2% of the potential market is far better than being too difficult/nothing at all to the whole market, if you get my drift.
To that end, Hive's communities could be our greatest asset... particularly if they become dynamic and active... as the POSH/Reddit initiative suggests, people will follow the promise of interesting content. Particularly if it's on a topic they are interested in: gardening, cooking, gaming hacks, travel tips, DYI and so forth.