Deteriorating comments

I've used imgur for quite a while now, and have enjoyed using it very much. But recently I stopped using it for a while - today is the first time I've been on in a few weeks. Since coming back, I've noticed a number of changes (all of which I initially thought were improvements) - the 'OP' label in the comments, comment-sorting etc., but now I've noticed that there are many fewer comments, and, in general, they're not nearly as funny. It seems to me too sudden to simply be because of a coincidental decrease in users, so I'm wondering if it's somehow because of the changes that have been introduced. One of the things which made me switch from Cheezburger to imgur for my internet procastination purposes was the amusing and more open comment section, but now I might start to look into other sites instead.