In practice, now with ~5 substantive texts written in the medium, it's pretty consistent that ~2-5% of readers engage with the prompts; 25-50% answer ~all (very length dependent); around half of those do any reviews.
What are the implications for authors and their incentives?
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If you have thousands of readers, only a few tens might actually review your material over time. Writing those prompts takes a lot of effort—is it "worth it"?
It's an easier case to make for "platform knowledge" like Quantum Country, which can draw 100k's of readers.
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But of course "visitor" numbers are misleading. For every 100 unique visitors an article's analytics count, it wouldn't surprise me if 80 bounce without reading much and 10+ read shallowly. So maybe this is actually reaching most of the serious readers.
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I suspect it's hard for authors to think this way. It's unsettling to spend hundreds of hours writing something which only a few hundred people might engage with deeply. It's easier and more pleasant to think in terms of (inflated) visitor counts, copies sold, etc.
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One implication might be that there is more to be gained from having an "OS-Level" SRS that leaves prompt creation etc. in the hands of the "consumer" instead of embedding it in the medium, but makes it easier to apply SRS to anything from inbox mgmt. to memorizing info etc.
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In essence making "let me remember this forever" or "let me keep this idea salient over time" as readily available as "copy", "download", or "bookmark". Yes, you can do that with Anki, but it requires a very conscious shift in how you work b/c it seems like an esoteric use case.
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Agreed! In fact I used an "OS-level" framing to first describe Orbit: patreon.com/posts/bringing (unlocked)
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Ha! Given how much of my thinking around SRS is based on your notes, this comes as no surprise ;)