If you recall reddits growth many of their communities evolved as offshoots of a single generic community. This made it easier for people to see discussions they normally would not get involved in, and once the posts in a similar category reached critical mass it moved to a sub Reddit.
I think people are recreating their niche communities here but they are floundering since the user base is still pretty small. Maybe it’s best to post to the “big” communities until the time is right to move to smaller, targeted communities?
Asking lurkers to be content creators/providers is a losing game. Your community is fighting for their attention, not the other way around.
It really just depends. I was a lurker (and occasionally commented) in a couple of Pokemon TCG groups on Reddit and I never felt a need to contribute because there was so much content already. I now create posts and comment because I recognize the magazine needs content to thrive. If there are others out there who are the same as me, and want the community to thrive, I don’t think asking them to make content if they can is too much. It’s not anyone is requiring it, but it’s a way to build and give back to your community. And it’s not too hard to do on a Pokémon TCG community, though I can see how it might be difficult on others such as a tech news magazine.
This is definitely a thing. I don’t like making a comment or post that has already been made 80 times, and I’m used to that being the case. Once I get used to the fact that I might be the first one to post something (and possibly the only one who wants to, lol), I will probably get used to posting regularly.