glimpse into their personality
There are better ways to evaluate someone than an interview. You also don’t need to know why that’s her favorite game to see what her personality is like.
when asked about the thing they said was their “favorite” the response is essentially “why am I expected to talk”
Not really. The response is exactly what she said — “why am I being asked to explain why it’s my favorite”. In other words, “that’s a weird question for small talk”.
If I just met someone and we’re having a casual conversation, I would find it uncomfortable if the other person dissected/challenged my answers — doubly so because OP never gave answers of his own. Maybe that’s a reflection of me and/or my general insecurity. I don’t know. But I know that that’s just not how my own social interactions go in person (I meet a lot of new people everyday due to my job).
I think initial/introductory conversations for the most part should be superficial and light-hearted. So asking “why” she likes something is almost like passing judgment. Normally, you’d just take what she said for what it is — “oh cool”. It’s like if I said I liked ramen, and you asked me why. I’ve certainly had that conversation before, but never with a stranger.
Like I said though, to each their own. I was just trying to explain why the girl may have responded the way she did. Because I can sorta relate to what she’s feeling, although I’d never lash out like that. I’ll usually just stop replying especially if it’s the third or fourth low effort question.