I have rarely posted here in the past, but I don't think it has to be an either/or sort of thing. People can do all of those things.
Pay attention to the users that frequent those threads. There are some here that pretty much only post politics and turn non-political threads into political ones.
TC, I think it's because non-topicality on a message board is a dying medium. The internet is so much more organized these days. It's more conducive to find a community on a particular topic I'm interested in rather than find the one or two users here who have a similar interest (unlikely, unless it's gaming).
This results in most threads that aren't controversial to have rather weak conversation. Despite the automatic habit of peeking in here once in a while, I'm consciously registering more and more that it's a waste of time for me to even lurk here. I don't relate with 99% of the users here and I've quickly learned not to take things at face value, which makes most discussion here pointless.
Politics here are either extremist or trollish/disingenuous. Often a mix of both.
I try to make good threads tbh, but I get what you're saying. Why bother making a thread if no one is going to reply?
I think that to myself sometimes and sometimes I'm just like "fuck it" ---