IMHO, I think if someone were to stand back and listen, at a public gallery, what you would hear would be much like what you read here at the RR galleries. " oh, I really like that one", "this is just awsome" etc... You might hear a few critiques but for the most part , as they're browsing, they may say nothing. That shows in the number of views vs number of comments.

Absolutely fantastic description! I completely agree with that!

I used to comment on almost everything when I first got here - it almost felt like an obligation (didn't want to hurt someone's feelings seeing that I "commented on THAT person's image, why not mine?!"). The shear volume of images hit me fast - and my days get crazy enough as it is with deadlines. Now I go through specific galleries as to what I wanna see and only comment when an image strikes me for some reason.

Some comments on my images have a specific "I expect you to comment on mine, too" feel to them. It feels weird, but I don't usually have the time to go through everyone's galleries to find one to comment on.

BTW - Pushinfaders - I look forward to the LWITG posts because (ducks, expecting heavy blunt objects to fly his way!) I rarely select the Photography Gallery to go through - it's usually C4D, then Max, then Vue - if I have time after that I usually randomly peruse. So, basically, the LWITG is how I catch up with the photography of the week.

Yes, I know, I'm a photographer and I don't look through the Photography Galleries - so if you haven't gotten comments from me, don't take it personally ;-)

More and more I'm lurking the forums instead, looking for the occasional tut/technique to pick up, asking and giving advice, etc.

You can't possibly comment on everything, and you'll go insane trying. When you DO comment, just try to make it sincere - the copy/paste comments are glaringly shallow.
-Lew ;-)