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More like the number of real human comments. Nowadays the number of average comments is around 3, but most of these comments are bot and/or spam (or spam-like) comments, which is sad. The users should really focus on engagement instead of just posting their own blog posts.
The Steem blockchain nowadays feels like a ghost town, which is not going to attract new active users, and the number of the remaining active users will only keep decreasing. I know it is ridiculous, but there is something called "proof of engagement contest". A contest about engagement. On a social media platform. I think that if a contest is needed to interact with each other on a social media platform, then that is a long lost story.

You seem to think it is dead, but here we are two humans having a real conversation.

It's depressed, we've been through a depression a mad rage of dumb downvote teams, a hardfork that favored stakeholders. Morale is low. I don't deny any of that.

So, now what? Do we quit, throw in the towel? Or work to get it back on track?

I hope for the latter (work to get it back on track), but I am not sure about the rest of the users. To be honest, I already left the Steem blockchain a few times because of my disappointment in the platform (or rather in the behavior of the majority of the users), but I always returned to the Steem blockchain so far. We are (only) two humans, but the rest of the users are many. You know the saying, "one swallow does not make a summer". The rest of the users should do the same (interact with each other).

I choose to focus on what I can control (me) and attempt to provide some positive feedback. (influence)

I don't know if Steem will work or not, but I can't change others, so I don't focus on it. (very often, as a goal that I fail at sometimes.. ) I'm being funny.