I have to say, just under 10 people within the duration of 45 minutes actually sounds like an impressive rate of visitors to me, as my "most viewed" thread of all time has garnered... 397 total views now (a lot of which are me, revising and updating things), and that one has been live for just over 9 months now. If I got despondent after only 45 minutes I think I'd have probably given up reviewing obscure music by now (which is what all my threads are) - the trick is really to have very low standards.
These days if at least one person posts a reply, I consider that a triumph, and hold a joyous celebration whilst wearing an extremely festive hat.
Unless the central issue you raise is controversial, the thread title itself poses a question that people will respond to without needing to read the original post, or you're talking about something that readers feel a personal investment in, you're probably not going to see massive numbers of viewers and respondents - thoughtful discussion exists here but it does so within a sea of "forum white noise" that all but drowns it out. "Fire and forget" threads are everywhere, thoughtful user-created content without some (typically divisive/inciendiary) gimmick posted in the more discussion oriented sections of the forums tend to get buried under all the chaff.
When posting content like a "Let's Play" or a review, which are arguably not primarily created for their discussion value, the same is still true - you'll either be literally the only one who has ever reviewed something[footnote]Like say... me - a quick search through the User Reviews section of the forums confirms that I am the only one to ever create threads with those band names[footnote]Holding MEANING as band names that is - for example, you'll find a bunch of threads with "Penumbra" in the title but mine is the only one about the obscure French Gothic Metal act, the rest are about the game series.[/footnote] in the title.[/footnote], or one among a veritable sea of other people who have done that, possibly far more eloquently than you. Either way, you're stuck dealing with an audience that either doesn't already care about your chosen topic prior to entering your thread, or forced to compete with all the other people talking about what you've decided to talk about - neither translates into "surefire hit!" as a general rule, not without mitigating factors at play (like existing audience investment due to name recognition).
Hence why I have very low expectations - it's much less depressing when very few people bother to read what I've spent hours writing if I didn't really expect anyone to read it in the first place; it is definitely nice to feel like you're appreciated and you won't see me turning my nose up at what little acclaim my writing garners me amongst the community, but those things are pleasant surprises, not my primary motivation.
