I had a discussion with @xplosive who feels that a lot of posts do not get much attention. I said that we do have to work on getting followers as Hive does not do that algorithmically. If you are posting in a community then be sure to comment on posts by others to encourage them. Communities ought to be about sharing opinions and tips on shared interests and not just trying to get votes. Use them as you would groups on other platforms that do not reward you. Hive is lacking in users and we need to at least retain those we have by making it fun.
I use Hive exactly as other platforms. Naturally. Nowadays I rarely comment under other people's posts (only if I actually care), but if I receive comments under my own posts, then I always reply to them (this happens usually in Facebook groups, rarely on Hive, because I rarely receive comments on the Hive blockchain). I spend very little time online. I prefer natural usage. No contests, no challenges, no force.
Hive is not lacking in users. There are many users. The problem is that 99% of them are only posting. Hard to receive comments on Hive, even with unique content, and with post promotion. People usually comment only if we comment under their posts.
But unique content stands out on its own on a properly working social network. Where people actually care about the content. They naturally write comments, because they actually care.
For example I post in a relatively small private Facebook group, which has only 1200 members, and usually I receive more than 10 comments under my posts. My last post currently has 28 comments. They write helpful tips, they ask how the things are going, if I have help, etc. If I ask a question, then they helpfully answer it. Sometimes some of them even write private messages too to me.
I also post in the Feathered Friends Facebook "community", which currently has 3548 members, and usually I receive 0 comments. My posts has visibility, but people simply do not really care.
I have the same experience with a different topic too.
For example two way radioamateur contacts. I uploaded videos to 3Speak (ThreeSpeak). The videos received upvotes, but the actual video views were only a little fraction of the upvotes.
I wrote blog posts too about. Mostly I had the same experience, as with the previously mentioned topic.
Two topics, both unique, yet there are literally no real audience for neither. There are no content consumers. The content is not only not standing out, but there is an almost complete lack of interest from the users in the content whatsoever. People see them. They just do not care.
Seeing this, probably it is understandable that I rather prefer Facebook groups, where people actually care. As I wrote above, I spend very little time online, and it is much better to post on a platform, where people actually care.
People are people wherever you go, but the motivation on Hive can be different. Of course some will only care about rewards, but those who are into a topic will comment anyway. Peakd says Feathered Friends only has 117 active users, whatever that means, but that ought to give you more responses than you say. I can see most posts there get some comments, so I'm not sure why yours didn't. It is a broad topic, so that may be a factor.
I comment a lot and there will be posts where I'm the only one despite the content being good. So it is an issue in some cases. I am sure you know that posting about Hive tends to get more responses, but any topic is valid. I think there are only a few thousand users across all the communities, so they can be spread thin. I don't really rely on communities so much though.
Those who don't comment are likely to miss out as they will gain less followers.