It's not easy to quantify (at least I haven't managed to do it), I have a list of posts I want to read every day that I don't always have the time to finish. Sometimes real life doesn't leave you the time to do everything you want. I also read posts I upvote, but I don't have much to comment. I won't bother leaving a "nice work" kind of thing, as it won't add anything useful (your posts are an example, I mean I love your work, so well-written and researched, but since I am not an expert on the topic I don't think I can add arguments for further discussion).
And that thing about chatrooms, I am totally with you. It's not only that I don't have enough time to visit them, but also that I don't do well in places where too many people are gathered, I cannot do the small talk.
I believe that if people found a couple of users whose work they value and try to keep up with them, then this place would be so much different. And you know? By forming these "micro-environments" we become parts of small circles that end up entwining on the same platform. That's what I can think of, maybe I'm wrong.
Pfff, like you said it, it's hard though. If you want to be committed, you need to spend almost all your day on Steemit. It's always relevant, since we don't all share the same amount of free time, so engagement and real, essential curation should be judged depending on how much time available everyone has (which is impossible in my opinion).
I really liked this comment for some reason!
Thank you! :D