On the "quote tweet" debate:
QT is one of several decisions that made Twitter into a place where powerful or 'influential' people post, and most of the other posts are reactions to that material – agreement, dunks, critiques, jokes, etc.
Even if people didn't always use it for that themselves, it was part of creating the overall feeling that there is one big topic under discussion at any given time – and so of course you add your opinion on that topic.
Not having QT also encourages replies!
Thinking about it more from all the replies here, I reckon it boils down to this:
"Boosting" on Mastodon encourages you to only boost posts you want to spread – look, they've even named it to make that obvious!
Quote-tweeting encourages you to spread bad or even hateful posts in order to add your 'reply' (or dunk attempt). So bad posts proliferate...
Most 'neutral' quote tweets, like "this thread is worth your time", add nothing compared to just boosting. If you have something to add, reply!
Tom Walker
anitahowarth