At the risk of proving your point: why would I bother commenting if I didn't want to have a conversation? I'm either shouting into the void to hear my own figurative voice, or I think other people might actually be interested in what I have to say.
I'm really grateful to the GP, because I didn't have a solution for getting notified when I have a reply here, so I mostly wound up missing them.
Then again, staying on top of everything is overrated.
For example, knowing every time someone responded to you on HN is most likely a net negative. They're likely to just be arguing with you. Better to navigate to your comment history on HN when you feel like arguing than getting notified on each reply.
This comment is a good example. You were just enjoying your Thursday and I found a bone to pick with your comment. Why would you want this pushed into your life instead of pulled into your life when you're in the mood to deal with it? ;)
You of course can open your RSS reader only when you're in the mood for it. But I think there's value in the disorganization of distractions. You forgot to check NYTimes or HN replies or whatever in 2 months? It's not like you missed anything important.
I found it nice to just have a list of links in a Notes.app file that I check every once in a while for leisure.