Interesting read, it's good to have a more informed perspective. I still don't really understand curation or how it might have been affected by the Hardfork. I've seen a fair bit of criticism and praise for the Hardfork and both are valid. Most of the people I've seen posting about it seem to be pretty much on the fence, I haven't seen anyone say it's the best thing since sliced bread nor have I seen anyone claim that it's worse than Hitler, so it seems to have had a fairly lukewarm reception.

Personally, as a new user, the Hardfork has definitely had a positive effect on my posts, it's also meant that my vote is actually worth something now, on a purely psychological basis this is good for giving new users the perception of being able to affect things on the site which should seriously help with retaining more new users which is definitely a positive for the site. But that's only my opinion on the matter, and I don't have enough information to be able to weigh in on the much wider economic debate regarding self up votes and such, I see that it's not a good situation but I can't say anymore than that.

I guess, as with all societies, new laws/rules come into play when the need arises, and there will always be those who take advantage of loopholes in these new laws/rules to the detriment of the wider community. But in the end laws/rules can be changed, and it's up to the members of the community to help initiate that change.

Anyway, I hope that made sense and didn't bore you too much, I just wanted to give my opinion as a new user.