A general rule of boards is that only about 2-5% of the traffic posts. Somewhat higher for a board like this, but still the minority.
I post a story and see a thousand unique hits in a day. I'll get, maybe, five reviews out of a hundred and twenty with accounts to post a review.
When discussion swings a certain way, the lurkers become posters and those not interested become lurkers. In this manner, an individual or team of individuals with some Smurf IPs can push a heavy amount of influence on one of these boards or threads. Their activity brings in those who were lurking as cynnics and squelches those who are looking to make productive use of the space.
Just look at what happens when real Q posts. Fifty fucking replies from first-time-in-bread IDs of "Hi, Q! Why does it burn when I pee?". All of these people were lurking and want to show their support when our meta-vocaloid celebrity shows up. And there is also the vain hope that some random existential question afflicting them will be answered.
It is what it is. But it shows how special forces tactics can be employed in the digital world. People have a certain tempo they like to keep in conversation. Too fast, and people self-censor. Too slow, and people begin to jump in with their ideas. Same idea as what happens in a board room where the loud and impulsive tend to dominate the course of discussion.
A team of three to five can just muscle their way into one of these breads and force productive conversation out. Not that every post need be 100% serious, grinding our noses off - but this isn't exactly a chat room, either.
It is why 8chan was preferred for function. Can you imagine how devastating this would be on 4chan, where threads and replies are pushed out?