@meganmariehart But look at the engagement your posts have garnered! That includes the reply-guy who you obviously forced, yes, forced, to read your explanatory thread, and whose life is now in ruins.

@meganmariehart I think I see what you're trying to assess, but I suspect that, to those who look to numbers of followers, favs or boosts, the Fediverse may be baffling. They may not be always see engagement as human interaction.
Re hashtags, I used them on a recent trip as I was posting a lot, & wanted to allow folk to filter those posts out if they wished. It also seems some general hashtags, eg birds, mosstodon etc, are of interest to folk who may not be interested in one's other posts