From my point of view, GN seems to have simply got too bad tempered for it to be the good-natured and pleasant “chat with friends” it used to be.
The same old, same old pro/anti Brexit/EU drums get banged- to no great effect; there are interminable threads about situations which were resolved somewhere around *page 2*; some “very strange” stories get spun - whether or not to take them at more than face value, can seem hardly worth the effort; MILs moan about their DILs and DILs moan about their MILs; somebody moans about their husband to an answering chorus of “LTB” ; there are hectoring threads which seem designed to question our intellect (the one about “levelling up” sounding downright accusatory) and there are those knocking different aspects of the Establishment- the government, the NHS , teachers or lawyers - and there are Games like there’s no tomorrow!
I did try with a thread of film titles “spoiled by one word” and there have been laudable attempts to raise a smile with topical or otherwise cartoons, but they too often seem to sink without trace.
We have had holiday periods in past years and , did everything grind to a halt then? I don’t think so.
I just think everybody sounds jaded , perhaps afraid to be shot down in flames by those who regard themselves as more knowledgeable or better-educated than others . Why bother ?
Is it surprising may “regulars” have voted with their feet and things “seem quiet” ?