There are some communities where the vast majority of posts are by on or two users reposting news articles.
Sometimes they’ll summarize below, but they will almost never share their opinions on the article, or even just ask what others may think about in regards to this aspect or that aspect. So the entire feed is just URLs.
I would feel more engaged to comment on those posts, or even start a post in the community, when it doesn’t feel like a bunch of robots reposting the daily slop.
Why would people be unwilling to make the first post? Never really heard of that before. Also if that’s the case… Why don’t you just make the first post? Be the change you want to see in the world dude.