Thank you for a catalyzing post. It lead me to some interesting meditations. 100% upvoted. I'll leave my response in the form of a letter below. I welcome anyone who cares to respond to weigh in.

Dear @chbartist,

Regarding this issue, I do not think it's resolvable into positive and toxic, that's a false dichotomy that oversimplifies the profundity of our existence. I see that you joined Steemit when the price was coming down from its peak. If you were around last fall you would have seen a very different climate. People are not very happy right now, and yes, that is their choice. I lost over $100k from not selling during the bull market because I believe in STEEM long term but I am not crying and beating myself up about it or blaming others because I know we must always move forward in life to become the best we can be.

The main speculation I've arrived at from watching your blog for a while is that because of when you joined Steemit (January 2018), it's not possible for you to remember a time before the platform was completely filled with spam, vote-selling and bid-bots. Many people who have worked hard since 2016 have heavy resentment regarding what this platform has become and still have reputation numbers under 60 after all this time. Some believe strongly in a gift economy and do not think Steemit ought to be used as a platform to extract the highest possible amount of profit from the blockchain.

Now, I don't actually agree with all of these views, but I can sympathize with them. What it seems like you may not understand is that since every service has benefits and detriments, when you get to occupy the "prime real estate" at the top of trending for several days, having a post upvoted to $1,000+, that is a great benefit. But there is also a huge drawback to paying to put yourself in the spotlight, which is that you attract negative attention onto yourself. In my opinion, blaming the "toxicity" of the platform can be summed up as a failure to take responsibility for the consequences of your own actions, or perhaps a lack of understanding of the social dynamics of this place.

For instance, although I (and many others) will use paid promotion services, we generally use them much more sparingly. If you have a sense of moderation and a level head regarding the worth of the content you create relative to the ecosystem you are in, you will not attract negative attention. Can you believe that in all the 15 months I've been on the Steemit platform, I have never received a single toxic or hateful message on one of my blogs? I knew that I must always respect the unspoken social dynamics of the platform if I was to avoid being a target for hate. This requires constant education and weighing various viewpoints in order to navigate the extremes found in any community.

What I am saying is, although I have great respect for what you have achieved in life and your orientation towards positivity and love, there still appears a lot of projection in your writing in which you appear to be placing subtle blame/judgement onto others instead of realizing that the experience you've had on this platform is a direct result of your decision on how to use it.

Like you said, this place is complicated and it often takes much longer than it ought to to comprehend how everything works. But this is also the beginning of a paradigm shift; humanity is realizing that every individual is potentially an expert at something no one else can be. We are realizing that human energy and attention ought to be rewarded, because it has a unique, innate value. But it also requires radical honesty regarding our individual role in the collective. If you know you are not the best writer, why would you so heavily promote your writing to the top to be the face of Steemit?

Clearly, you have knowledge and have achieved a lot in your life. So have a lot of people on this platform, including many whales with 500,000+ SP. But most of them do not get flagged because they are very aware that it is wise to be respectful and moderate in the way they promote their content. For instance, only posting once a week, or only using huge bid-bot votes on posts they consider extremely important for people to see: related to charity projects, witness announcements, community initiatives, and the like.

The negative energy you have got on the platform is a messenger, it is telling you to look closely at yourself. Just like negative emotions tell us we may need to change our mental and emotional habits, and physical pain tells us we need to take our hand off the stove so our hand is not destroyed: why not frame what you have experienced here and take total, radical responsibility for it instead of psychologically projecting all the "toxic" aspects onto others? We all are made of unconditional love, but have toxicity as well. I don't care how incredible, inspiring, or enlightened someone may seem, they have a shadow side, as well. We all do.

I know this is an extremely long comment, but your post gave me the impetus to reflect more on this topic. Thank you for being who you are. I'm honored if you take the time to read it and hope it was helpful in some way. Namaste.

@d-pend