the only ones reading anything are small accounts still trying to "make it".

Yes, 3/4 of the comments I get are from newer accounts from the past few months, and very few old accounts.

trending page... blah

I don't loo ;) No idea what's going on there, but I suspect more of the same types of stuff as last year.

Multiple problems can be addressed, self-voting is an issue. If a comment is valued by others they should learn to upvote it, even if it's only 1%. It's because of the monetary focus that acts as the primary motivator from curation. Posts get you money back, but comments don't much because no one else is voting them up either. Or do comments not have curation at all? lol People are drawn to the activities that can get them the most rewards. New people tend to comments more than post, as to have more exposure from saying something on many post with more views, than just their own unknown posts.