My response to publish ratio is 7184 to 291. About half of my responses take at least five minutes to put together. And half of those are not acknowledged by the original writer. Top writers or aspiring top writers really don't have the time to put together lengthy responses.

Does responding help? Here is my little Medium experiement:

https://medium.com/tiered-democratic-governance/an-insight-into-medium-algorithms-34ec49f57936

My answer seems to be "yes." This leads to the next question:

Does responding have a tangible benefit?

Clearly: Nope!

I deliberating do not follow or read top writers (execpt one). I read a lot of good articles from writers who are getting similar traction as you and I.

Most of us desire to be read than to read. I am guilty of this desire.