Yeah, I definitely remember those days. That was 2016-2017 pretty much. It's not as bad now, but it's not the result of any sort of positive progress, to be honest It's moreso just the fact that whatever you post, comment, or say doesn't matter in the slightest.

Steemit is not a social site by any means. It's pretty much a pay to win platform where the winner is the one who pays the most for advertising.

But even then he doesn't really win because the ROI on bought votes is laughable.

The real winners are the whales. Just like they were back in 2016 - the only difference being that the little guy is even more of a loser these days due to the lack of free upvotes.