I agree with the connection aspect of your appraisal. When I get the chance to spend a lot of time scrolling around I will come across someone with great content that have been here a long time and I never saw them before.

I have little to no experience with markdown or formatting and I have done okay with this system.

Every platform has its flaws. I'm sorry you had a negative experience, I have just seen your latest post. This platform I thought would be welcoming of someone with experience based perspectives.
I wish you good things in the future. Thank you for contributing your thoughts, they are not without value.
I hope this platform does find its feet again, it does have merit and like all online communities or any communities for that matter, it is not perfect.
Thanks for posting, I will follow you anyway, in case you choose to post again in the future.