Yeah this is all second hand from an announcement about something that is “going to happen”. So details might differ from what actually shows up.

And yes I think mod abuse is starting to show up in their bottom line. They need people commenting so they target ads more effectively, same reason they killed r/All. They need to know stuff about you so they can send ads.

Mods being the toxic assholes they are is driving people to lurk, as you stated.