Looks like Steemit took a...... What the hell happened?

Jesus, last I was on here was a few years ago during the 2017 boom of crypto and this was a growing vibrant community. It was actually fun, there were wars, infighting, alliances, tribes and notable characters like @grumpycat, @berniesanders and more. It was fun to to participate in and watch good vs evil, as evil characters stepped on the little guys, and higher rep users would come in and boost them back up. I remember the haijin war where that prick stepped on everyone, voted them down, then there was a uprising, the more votes down etc. Granted I think he personally took a great deal of the fun out of the platform promoting his Elliot wave garbage and propping himself up with $100+ upvotes..

But all that aside, WTF happened here? Its like a ghost town and the homepage reads like China Town.. Is Steemit basically dead now or what?

I read about hostile takeovers, and drama and it looks like this place has been gutted?