I must be comatose when I wrote that paragraph in your first quote. I really didn't think I wrote it, but dang, I did...
But yeah, the unrealistic expectation is so high, it's ridiculous. They think it's the whales', etc. they went unnoticed when it's much harsher out in the non-crypto world.
One of the things @someguy123 told me when I started on this chain was that it's many times easier to get noticed than the mainstream. It makes you wonder if it's the complainers' first time on the internet, or social media, in general.
I'm as surprised as you. I thought I was more likely to make such statements first like it's a norm. It's not far from the truth.
We're in a social bubble and anyone who is anybody can know everybody if they stay long enough and browse multiple communities, get involved and lurk. I haven't been exploring other languages but from the authors that use English as their main language, it's not hard to run into the same names frequently.
I knew self marketing was a steep climb but Hive and the old blockchain made the hobby worthwhile with some monetary incentives. I tried dipping into other social media with the current skill set, not a surprise and was within expectation, I get little to no notice from strangers.
May have to put in more work like being vested on the communities within those platforms but it's a long term project to even reach levels where an artstyle can be so signature enough that it markets for you.