I kissed comment culture goodbye

Expecting commenting to make you friend like connections is the Ur internet faux pas

If it's some specialized niche forum, it's very possible.

Even more if it's a discussion forum, instead of wall of temporal comments.

HN doesn't qualify for either, but there probably exist active places that qualify.

The expectation that Internet social spaces are massive "town square" style spaces where strangers interact but remain strangers is recent, circa maybe 2012. We can go back and forth about the precise year but early online spaces like BBSs, Usenet, IRC and traditional forums were relatively small and close knit. Couples holding real marriage ceremonies in the multiplayer role playing game where they met is a tradition older than the term "MMORPG" (they were getting married in eg LambdaMOO).

Everyone comes to online social space looking for some kind of connection, friendship or otherwise.