Though an interesting people list might be good - comments by people on the list are highlighted so you can spot them easier, this way you can choose the people whos comments you like to be highlighted. Coupled with a blacklist to hid (or make less obvious) the comments by people who you decide generally don't post interesting or useful comments could make dealing with large numbers of comments much much easier.

Thoughts?

That seems like a good idea.

There's a "Hacker Friends" chrome extension that does exactly this.

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mkdhfabjcebcgnpg...

Sounds good, just added it. The script now offers white and black lists, where whitelisted users get an orange-highlighted username and blacklisted users get their comment text collapsed.