To me, it doesn't. And, the first time I made to post a comment this month, I edited the seed post instead of posting a reply. Noticed that my "reply" didn't show up as a reply; the post didn't get bumped -- not what I wanted; not what WE want for inspiring more comments, so I undid it and posted a normal reply.3. Seed post might not count
I see a lot of this in other forums I visit -- replies like, "^^ +1" or "Nice post! Thanks for sharing!" Boosts the post count, but adds nothing meaningful.If "Spam" is Sales-Bulk, we should take a little care to avoid "Canned Chicken" (5% more nutritious, but not much more!) That would be fluff posts with the sole purpose to boost the numbers.
I don't see that happening here. I think there's an air of expectation about Aphelion that if one is to comment on a story or poem, that comment should be worth something.
Indeed, but I sometimes find myself finishing a story and not being able to think of a thing to say about it. I know how a total lack of commentary on a story distresses the author. In some cases, I think it just needs more time for analysis on the part of commenters. Some of us don't think as fast as others.6. Stories need comments!
Remind me later about the topic of beta-readers.