Let's stop making assumptions about "the collective", shall we? Submit articles you think are interesting, and make substantial comments that contribute and promote interesting discussion. Bemoaning the "sad state" of whatever doesn't help one single bit (and comes off poorly as well). The guidelines ask us not to complain that a submission is inappropriate: I think that likely goes for complaining about a submission's reception in general.
You can only control what you yourself do. I regularly review my comments to see how they've contributed constructively to discussion: and that's not just by looking at their vote tallies. Sometimes I'm not happy with what I've done, and I try to do better. Are there responses at all? Are there substantive follow ups? Are the responses worse? A pet peeve of mine are the large number of snarky rhetorical questions that poke at others' comments rather than charitably teasing out the heart, and make stronger followups. Complaining about that would only make people defensive, which would make things worse.
Constructive comments make for better discussion make for better participation which makes for better submissions and better comments. Focus on what you can do, and do it.
You can only control what you yourself do. I regularly review my comments to see how they've contributed constructively to discussion: and that's not just by looking at their vote tallies. Sometimes I'm not happy with what I've done, and I try to do better. Are there responses at all? Are there substantive follow ups? Are the responses worse? A pet peeve of mine are the large number of snarky rhetorical questions that poke at others' comments rather than charitably teasing out the heart, and make stronger followups. Complaining about that would only make people defensive, which would make things worse.
Constructive comments make for better discussion make for better participation which makes for better submissions and better comments. Focus on what you can do, and do it.