A combo for me:

• I can curate more successfully, block noisy people, have my own territory where people who are anti-compatible don't generally go
• Btc selects for a certain inquisitive type, a certain counter-culture hunger (which can def go bad, but see above)
• I can get a surprising amount of engagement, not in the "millions of followers" sense, but in the "handful of people will read me closely and talk to me" sense; it feels like a bar where I'm one of the regulars, and though I am not really known in most ways, I feel deeply known in a few
• Zapping is just enough of an honest signal

It may be a smallish site, but I feel like it's still actively moving forward, really searching. Bullish on it becoming even more meaningful.