I posted two wildly different articles yesterday. I thought I would take a look at the results of each post to consider the ramifications for our community. We all know the monetary rewards are not a very good benchmark anymore until the code adjusts to the hard fork, but both posts are close to one another in rewards and upvotes.
However, a closer look at the stats shows 14 views for the collectible card game article and no comments, while the Syria post has 31 views and a conversation thread. Admittedly, views from other platforms like busy.org and steemdb won't appear as views in Steemit, but it's safe to say the Syria article indeed had more than double the engagement.
Conclusion: the Steemit community has an interest in serious subjects even in this period of reward chaos. Don't be afraid to post stuff that matters. Rewards shortfalls shouldn't be an excuse for pointless filler fluff pieces, and serious subjects earn interaction with the community at large. I intend to keep posting my usual combination of hobby and philosophy articles with occasional goofball interjections and library stories regardless of the payout numbers.