I think the ones you’ve chosen are the opposite of cluttering with conversation.
They are quips or on topic comments, answering relevant questions.
It’s this kind of stuff that is “derailing the thread”
In my opinion this much drift is bad, yes.
The evolution from “just memes” to “memes and quips” seemed healthy.
The devolution to “chat about funny topics of any sort” is where it started going too far, I think.
So maybe we will gently steer the character back in a grey and tolerant kind of way, rather than trying to draw black and white lines that thou shalt not cross!