Both the quality and amount of comments are going down.

It seems like more people are posting stories while less are commenting on the work of others. This is bad.

It also seems that commenting are deflating into;
"That was well written."
Or,
"I like blah blah. Blah blah was cool."

I mean, sure, you've taken the time to read it, and I'm sure the author appreciates this. But why not take the time to leave a meaningful review with some substance?

Ultimately, I guess there are writers that want to be read and writers that want to improve.
I'm going to speak for the writers that want to improve in saying that if you're going to take the time to read, please, do us a charity and take the time to review.

The more you comment people, the more they are going to read you, and hopefully, that raises the probability that they will comment you back (with some substance).

I'll just sum up my point;
Take the time to leave a meaningful review. Don't do it just for yourself, to the purpose of tagging up everything you can with a single sentence without any clarification, do it for the sake of trying to improve other writers and expanding on their perspective.

Thanks for the time; thanks for the comments you've left on everyone's stories; and you should be happy, and not complacent, in realizing that there aren't many places where your work will be willfully read. This is one, and you should treat others the way you would like to be treated. With thought, care, and effort.

Have a good day.

On the other side of the coin, not everyone appreciates the kind of review you are talking about. I've seen people take constructive citicism badly on this site, some people merely want to know people are reading their stories with a friendly comment. Some reviewers who always have negative comments end up as 'bad guys'. It can be hard to please everyone.

I suggest leaving a little disclaimer at the beginning of your story:

Hello! Please give me some positive and negative feedback when you read this, I am trying to improve my writing and am looking for some insights, not just friendly words...etc

yeah good idea

"Ultimately, I guess there are writers that want to be read and writers that want to improve.
I'm going to speak for the writers that want to improve in saying that if you're going to take the time to read, please, do us a charity and take the time to review."
There was my disclaimer in that area.

I see what you mean, intelligible comments are key.... but half the time exactly what you were thinking when you read the piece has already been quoted elaboartly at least twice. So to keep ones self from paraphrasing others, all there is left to say is..."I agree" & " well done!" I think even the simplest comments are feed back that keep us on a positive path.

I'm one of those one line commenters you are talking about. haha sorry about it. Honestly I just don't have a lot of suggestions for other peoples writing. The only thing I could see is pointing out grammar probs. but I am terrible with grammar myself so what can I say. However, I do know what you mean about not much commenting and a lot of new story posts.
For instance you can look at the recent log ins on the home page and there are all these people I have never seen commenting. They just come and dump all their stories on sites thinking some one is going to discover them.

I try to comment on everything in the horror, humor, and misc. categories but don't always have the time to expand into others. I agree that more people need to be leaving comments and that if you see something that could make the story better, let the auther know. They may not agree with you but that's their choice on wether or not to act on your advice. Sometimes I'm just so damn tired (I usually read these stories from 3-5 am) that I can't think of anything to say other than the generic "Well written. I liked it." I agree that that doesn't help anything other than to give some positive vague feedback but when I feel sharper I try to add in a longer comment to either help benifit the author or let them know how much I enjoyed their piece.

Anyway I hope that a lot of other people begin commenting on other's stories. Most likely though none of these noncoms read any of the forums.