I'm with you on this. But I think that we can't force other people to do or to behave as we want. So, the only thing we can do is to do our parts and do those things we want others to do. Maybe someday the rest of users begins to do it too.
PS: I read what I just wrote and I think it is a little confusing. I hope it is understandable.
I completely understand what you wrote.
I would not like to force no one and nothing.
Exactly that should be avoided.
On a properly working social network, nothing is forced.
People use it naturally.
Exactly the Hive is that place, where some people force themselves to comment.
There is an Ecency leaderboard, and some people force themselves to write more than 100 comments per day.
While some people force themselves not in the amount, but simply even to write a few comments.
So even in the communication itself.
Their communication is visibly not natural, not genuine.
I get your point. That's also true. At least, I try to engage with people naturally and to follow a conversation. Sometimes it's hard because some people's comments seem like made by robots.
I think that leaderboards here are good things because are incentives to people to engage with each other. But, as you do, I also think that some people, or most of people, force their comments just to make those numbers go up.