I am pretty sure Elon was partially behind it, he got intensely ridiculed on 4chan and probably holds a grudge for being denied clout
I found myself checking out /pol/ compulsively but posting less and less. The quality of posts plunged dramatically after first Trump election, you could feel the brownoids invading. Plus all the normie tier morons crying that they want children and family.
In time I stopped reading /sci/ and /tg/ too and realised I am just getting cheap dopamine shots. Like you said, maybe it's for the better.
As to sharty, as others mentioned there is something off putting and demonic about it.