I work seasonally, and 'tis the season, so I am spending a lot of time presently outside of Steemit and post but little. I have noted this has cost me a lot of engagement from folks whose opinions I greatly miss. I also note that a lot of folks have fallen out.
While I do miss those folks, I have become all the more grateful for those yet engaging.
I am not sure what you mean by random, but as a rule I read every comment on posts I upvote, clear down to the bottom, and the censored. I know that sometimes, despite the presence of spammers, the very best comments betimes draw flags, and those I particularly want to read. I often upvote comments on posts before I upvote the post itself, so that I more fully consider the post in their light.
Many people are here for the money, and I see the impact of that presently on post quantity. I am not, although the impact of rewards on quality of engagement is paradigm changing. I find that trolling is much reduced as a result of rewards, and many people stretch to be more civil than they ever have. I deeply appreciate that Steemit has that impact on people, and am confident that is something that those folks particularly will appreciate more as the benefits of their efforts to best themselves become apparent in time. I find Steemit an order of magnitude better for engagement than Fakebook as a result (the organized corporate censorship and propaganda not being conducted by Stinc is also of inestimable value). Since I don't spend any Steem, price fluctuations don't impact me much, except as they impact others.
Finally, I sometimes comment. I don't have much to add here, except to agree that as we respond to a changing world our habits on Steemit change as well, and that impacts who we interact with.
Thanks!