I really don't think they know what to do with it. They know that feeding it into their algorithm gets poor results in terms of reader and writer satisfaction, so they maybe run scared, rather than trying to fix it. Because after all, they don't see themselves as a fiction platform, but as 'better-you-actionable-life-lesson' sausage machine.

Which is fair enough.

But as with many of their behind-doors decisions, it would gain them greater favour with their users if they just honestly came out and said it, rather than let people continue pissing in the wind.