It doesn't help that the requests for help were made to sites like HN where the demographics of those sites tend to consist of information-curious people.
Yes. And empathetic yet rational beings can then remind themselves that they have no right and no need to have the information, and can quietly let it pass.
Some won't ask. We can't control the world, but we can influence this community. And I think it would be nice if people here chose to be empathetic and rational human beings.
You believe in a world governed by profit and financial transactions.
The real world is not like that.
Once invited to join a tribe by requesting assistance for someone, others who have joined that tribe by becoming concerned and investing time into worry and concern are not expecting to be paid, they are merely wanting to know what happened to the person they have been ASKED to care about.
It is exceptionally cynical and economically oriented to cast requested concern for a fellow human into something it is not.
You are taking the word "paid" over-literally. I put it in quotes for a reason.
"wanting to know" without also having the ability to help and without the other party appreciating your concern (i.e. it's not a personal communication) is not "concern for a fellow human" - it's curiosity. There isn't anything wrong with that, but don't make it out to be nobler than it is.