I think the root of the issue lies on rhe loss of anon culture. The userbase back then was completely made out of people familiar with imageboards, so you had people that contributed selflessly to the board (even if their stuff wasn't great), and fags were called out and reported (namefags, people who obviosly baited, etc).
Then the culture began to change and that began to get lost. Artists (and some other people that made content) started getting called by names and started having people getting attached to them and forming sort of fan groups who praised everything they did, and some made so many posts with their stuff that combined with the people who praised them made the board look like their personal space.
People also started encouraging shitposters instead of reporting them (like that actually autistic guy that I'm not going to mention) and in general not disencouraging/calling out people when they were being stupid (or really new to imageboards) to keep them in check and force them to learn how things worked in the general and adapt to the community instead of changing it into something much closer to what you'd find in other communities full of fags. Instead, people began questioning different aspects of the original culture and pissing on them.
The inability to have competent and involved moderation meant that shitposters together with the new people overran the usual userbase and got to stay on the general unhindered, diluting the original userbase that made the place seem comfy, original, welcoming, and different from the rest of the usual fan community hubs.
Mind you, /sthg/ always had shitposters and other undesirable people (some of them organized), but things used to eventually get back on rails.
>>2905
Having said everything I just wrote, you sound like a huge newfag and you should lurk more.
Now post Bump.