Hey, since I read this topic, I've been coming up with ways to
mobilize the gift market (that sounded too corporate)
bring back gifts as a feature, because as is, I really like it

So maybe the root of the problem is not the system itself (but maybe it's a bit too hidden?
Could use some awareness I guess...), but the way we use it (or not).
Why is nobody giving gifts? Is it because we feel they have to be "earned"? Are gifts only given between friends?
So far, I've been trying to give the Gifts system some life, and here I'll detail how I did it

I can hope I can inspire people to come up with their own methods, and of course, feel free to copy me if you like my ways, just use your own gifs for extra flavor
-
Little forum games like
Give a Gift, Get a Gift! In which the next poster gifts something to the previous user, who requests something intentionally vague.
-
Workshops! I got inspired from the "pixel art workshops" I saw in Pokémon forums and created
a quick one in the Fun & Forum Games board. Basically, a workshop is a little art shop where an artist (often a pixel artist) takes in requests from other people, but the formatting is a little more in-depth as to evoke an actual shop, with waiting lists, samples... I could see this one have a lot of popularity with current pixel artist if they want to make their own pieces, but for those who aren't as good at pixel art (like me), gifting pre-existing pixels like what I'm doing also does the trick
-
Awards that you create to gift to others! Like those little trophies and awards websites gave to eachother during the times of the Old Web. I've been gifting the
"Great Posts Pacman" (it's from Pacman 2!) to people who made posts I think were cool or informative, as a token of appreciation. If you feel you're missing your Great Posts Pacman, don't worry,
he's coming for you very soon