Yes that is part of the initiative that @donkeypong and others were working on - if you look in the comments of the discussions in #til etc you will see that the comments are getting up-voted too.
I think the lack of discussion and commenting has been the biggest change since the peak. I think part of this is the falling price of Steemit combined with the perception that comments don't get rewarded.
Starting up vibrant discussions on controversial topics would be a great way to increase engagement. Even better if those topics of discussion were able to get prominence in google search results. That way people would get introduced to Steemit without even realising what it is.
Are there any specific topics that spring immediately to mind and would fit into this definition?