One weird thing about fame is that the numbers are so completely meaningless. On youtube 10k is sort of moderate for successful videos, more on the low end. But of course, if the youtube algorithm had always divided all numbers by 5, then 2000 would be sort of moderate for successful videos, more on the low end. The absolute value is so far distant from anything. It's just about comparing yourself to others or to your past or future self.
This is part of the puzzle. You'd naively think that when BackgroundPony got 6500 likes and none of your recent stories crossed 100 likes, surely it's no longer worth pursuing this path for the reputational gain. But since absolute numbers are meaningless, the current situation doesn't feel qualitatively different. The decline is real, but probably only has finite implications. There's still a big difference between having this small audience and no audience.