I have no plan to stop commenting, and I've seen the amount of comments on my posts grow. This isn't because of any financial reason, my audience has simply grow and my content has gotten better.

I never personally commented to get any payout on them. I simply wanted to start conversation. I see way too little "engagement" on posts, especially political posts. These should spark debate, discussion or at least memes.

I agree that it is up to the authors of the post to "reward" the commentators with at least a response or an upvote. Actually, a response is worth more to me than a vote.

Let's grow the platform by actually engaging here, not just posting your article or video and then wait for a payout. I see that as an issue with many of the "larger" content creators who have moved to Steem in response to some type of censorship elsewhere. I understand they might come here for the financial aspect (I see this being poo-pooed away by some who repeat the mantra that someone "shouldn't come to Steemit for money"), but engagement with their audience should be awarded by the audience.

Personally, I do not up-vote creators who do not engage with their audience as a general rule, no matter their size and scope on (or off) the platform.