It's quite absurd.
It is something that continues to exist over the years, and I personally believe that it will never cease to exist.
But anyways.
It's amazing how much I identified myself reading this post. I am a user who has previously been involved in endless problems and bad decisions despite having participated in important projects by that time (Utopian-io, Oracle-D, SteemPress, etc) and I still managed to ruin all that reputation I already had. I even remember when I had created my chess project and it had been a success, but due to fatigue I decided to abandon ship (and noticing that my account was being used was even worse, but I ignored it completely until I decided to come back).
I don't mean that all those things that happened before should be completely ignored, it's okay to look into someone's past to get a little sense of what they are like and what to expect from them. But I feel that it should never be a determinant to really judge what a person is like or if they can really be trusted. And I think I've learned this throughout this year since I've been back here.
From the moment I came back some people let me know that a warm welcome was going to be impossible for me, so I had to try my hardest. I started writing daily, commenting everywhere, created a new account and started from scratch knowing that my entire reputation and name was blacklisted in many places and communities, but I still tried. I think it took a couple of months until I felt that the community started to trust me again, and the feeling was really satisfying: That's why I tried three times harder.
I'm sure there were many days where I made more than 30 comments, welcomed new users and also took care of inviting many people to the community (some didn't do things as I expected, but there are others who continue to this day and I feel very proud of them). If someone really wanted to be forgiven by the community, I feel they should try even harder.
After a year I feel that there are still a lot of things I need to polish, if I want to be a much more successful content creator I need to keep working hard, but one thing I've completely learned is to appreciate the amount of friendships I've made here. I'm not a very influential user, in fact I'm powering down (for personal reasons) and that's not good, and it's not like my votes are worth a lot either. But the important thing is the people I have met here and all the benefits that each individual represents for my life.
Outside of the rewards of Hive, outside of what I earn in posts and my work as curator, each friendship made on Hive can benefit you in many other ways. I've met people who have taught me how to take photos, users who have taught me how to generate money by playing video games or investing in other things, people who simply encourage you with personal advice. All these friendships are what really make Hive something much bigger than just the economic aspect of the blockchain.
Even you are a person who has helped me financially before and has given me advice about the chain and stuff. All the rewards thanks to that reputation I have earned over 1 year is not intrinsically associated with the rewards I generate in my post. It is demonstrated thanks to users like you and all those users who benefit your life with other contributions that indirectly can serve you to be a better person (this sounds pretty generic XD), and also to improve your quality of life (there are people who have given me financial advice, lol).
I missed the point from the main topic of your post, but it was perfect for a venting comment XD sry