thinking about the feed.

specifically, design techniques to increase high-effort replies, which we can all agree is best form of engagement.

This is tough, IMHO there is no design pattern making people want to put more effort in posts. BUT analyzing high effort replies and their "creators" needs could give you insights. Just some example: markdown formating, hiding ugly  raw links with thumbnails etc.

product consultant / web3 ux researcher / ai nerd / psychologist 


The core of the problem is behavior design and the reward system. We reward low effort replies also: even  the rewarding itself is rewarded.
Maybe we can't/ won't get rid of reply guys, cause even if they are doing it as a chore, some of their message is geniue and somewhat valuable. but (...)

...but doing a quick qualitative (or even quant) research on clustering / segmenting replyguys and their sponsors, could give insights on topics and patters which can facilitate more effort in those replys