So you're saying it's proportional all the way up and not a big deal, or people love assholes and upvote all their material and comments for greater proportional impact?

If anything I would argue that the first and early adopters are less likely to be assholes, to where eventually you reach that tipping point and move back towards the average, which feels worse in what is a collection of niche communities, because the average engages slightly different content than early adopters.

Moreso, I think it's just confirmation bias. OP is hyper sensitive to a change in the culture so every example of it weighs a little more.

To be clear, like most things, I don't think it's one thing or another; a little from A, a little from B, and probably a slew of other factors.