If you want more people to reply to your future posts, take the time to reply to them. It's a bit of an art to figure out what's worth turning into a conversation, but it's a valuable art that applies beyond SN.
It’s kind of rule of story telling that you have to increase the stakes as you go. It’s why most shows unravel into some absurdity.
Sorry if the site performance has been inconsistent. I've been toying around with stuff and half the time I just make things worse.