There is so much intel and info in this comment I don't know where to start, so I'll start shilly to then, depending on your response, I will continue on.

I would think it's worth an experiment where communities focus on short-form posts (with a specific tag) and curation guilds drive rewards to those communities that are growing and to those accounts that generate discussion within those communities.

Have you seen this?

https://leofinance.io/communities/hive-124452

Each community has its own threads section. The backend work was a pain in the ass, but the frontend now shows community discussions in the form of Threads.