I see curating is different now compared to before. Curating (except yours and @solperez's) seems to involve just upvoting without comments to explain what they like about the post they upvote? I am not sure who else comments but so far the ones I see are just purely upvotes with a standard reply that they were upvoted by who (which is also fine I guess considering replies are invisible most times).

Sometimes I do ask myself, what is my purpose of upvoting and commenting. Do I expect a reply or do I just want to share what I can and what I want to, with the author, in which reply or not, reciprocate or not, it doesn't matter. Sometimes when I post too, my end in mind is just to post. But personally, I feel it is common courtesy that if someone took the time to read my post and comment and upvote, I should return the favour.

Curating, commenting takes a lot of effort. We have to first read, understand or not, whether we like what we read or not, and think what to comment, if it makes sense. Sometimes, I have to read and reread a few times to think about what to comment but f words just don't flow, I move on to another. And you need to dedicate your time to purely do this piece. I think upvoting and commenting take more time than posting.

But I do the do unto others what others do unto me thingy too. If I do not receive replies or if the replies are just a one line or two, from those I comment, I will usually not visit their posts. Am I cold? Maybe. But it is my decision on who I want to give my upvote and comment to and I would rather give to one who appreciates the effort.