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> People want to participate, they want to be part of a conversation.

Are you potentially speaking for a vocal minority here that wants to be part of a conversation while ignoring the many than simply read (consume)?

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Well, there is a reason most sites nowadays have comment section. The readers also read comments, even if they might only add to them rarely

Leaving comments is a different kind of participation than curating a personal website. The assertion originally under discussion here (a few posts back) is that most people don't care to curate their own personal website, or, really, any sort of distinguished online identity. I think that is true. Most people are on Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor/whatever are doom scrolling it, not trying to become an influencer. The assortment of people leaving comments on NYT, Amazon reviews, or chattering on a forum somewhere, or whatever else, are doing just that, but not trying to drive traffic to their personal home page.

I don't think people do one thing. sometimes the read sometimes they like and sometimes they comment.

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