I believe that contents should be published without always having an eye on profits, otherwise sooner or later they will end up plagiarizing.
It is enough that some posts are not valued economically for many users to choose to copy. The law of least effort.
I believe that sooner or later publishing quality content in #HIVE pays you for the effort you have put into it.
But if you don't have the conviction that writing is useless, you will hardly succeed.
I think the average number of users who sign up and those who publish is seven or eight to one. And some moderators consider it good.
Maybe that's why I see more and more curators with very little strength in terms of voting power.
I think (and this is a personal opinion) that many think there is more money to be made in curating than in posting. Or at least it is easier.
That is the only way I believe.
People come and go, it has been like that forever and that is fine, this is how it should be. It's a decentralized platform, you do what you want as long as you respect the rules. Cheaters and low effort content creators won't stay anyway.
I have a slightly different opinion on that. To reach a level at which curation is easier and more profitable than content creation or takes time, or requires a large investment. Those who are here for a quick buck are not staking, just milking the platform.