@taskmaster I could write genuine and decent comments on almost all of your posts. To be honest the reason that I don’t is that it feels luke spamming. The same goes for @tarazkp!
Both of you were my biggest income in my early days on the platform! Thanks for creating a great interaction platform. We only have to use it!
So if I dont comment on one of your next posts it is not that I am not interested but because I don’t want to spam you guys!

>I now keep it at 400 which is manageable but could use even more culling.

Cull those who only post in the good times ;)

I was just considering what to post about early today and this topic stood out for me. I follow a small section of the accounts that follow mine. In the early days of Twitter, I used to follow back everyone that followed me. This gave me a number of dormant/useless accounts and I learned from that. 

On Steemit, I have a core group of people who create interesting posts and leave thoughtful comments. I usually ask a question at the end to spark discussion and a call to action as well. Anyone who leaves a real comment gets a response from me, and an upvote if I have enough VP. 

I do believe there is something to be said for "social proof." Working in retail, one thing we learned was that shoppers are more likely to purchase something if the shelves are full and they see other shoppers browsing as well. 

The best thing we can do to support Steemit is to: create engaging content, and interact like the real people that we are.