I suppose part of the problem is that you get the comments from people who are themselves lonely, and looking for something interesting online (and your writing is very compelling), while the people you would most like to connect with are busy with work and family and don't spend as much time online (so your posts pass away into the on-going archives of lj, without their ever even seeing them).

"we don't have the words, the digitial photos, the pretty icons, or the computer formatting technigue, so the connection feels lop-sided or clunky."
personally I think the digital photos, icons, and other bells and whistles, are just distractions and trivia: the ability to write an indepth essay is infinitely more interesting, but isn't something all of us can hope to do.