it's helpful to know what I've already read. if it's not a shit reply, it gets a bear. ofc, this means I read shit replies multiple times and get angry all over but at least I know what's probably new (to me).
you get a bear, and you get a bear, and you get a bear, and everyone gets a bear.
Oh! One more thing to add. Back when the hexbear code made it so comments and upvotes updated in real time without needing a manual refresh, I would sometimes upvote and de-upvote a comment multiple times over like 10 or 20 seconds right after it appeared. If the comment was freshly made as I was reading the thread, I knew the person who made it was probably still looking at their screen with the comment they just made. I always hoped they'd see their upvote count flashing up and down repeatedly, and it would be like my way of saying "hi! I see you there! I'm here rn too. Nice comment." I kinda miss that.