"People listened instead of just waiting for their turn to speak" [0] - Chuck Palahniuk

I have tried probably too hard to not be this person. As a result, i've had literally hundreds of people tell me I'm a great listener. I don't order food at my usual haunts, they just make it. Letting people talk, and actually hearing and giving one flying fuck, is more impactful than I ever imagined.

[0] http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/37182.html

You sure it isn't just the limitations of the medium? Threaded discussion lends itself to longer messages. And since the author of the post isn't guaranteed to be here, we can't ask questions and expect an answer. If we were on IRC, I'd expect more of a two-way conversation. Instead we have people sharing their comments (Hacker News often reminds me of blog comments.)

> Modern conversation seems to be morphing into the art of using others' comments as triggers for one's own monologue

I'm pretty sure in real life it happens that in a coming together somebody has a spark and tells a story in 5 minutes. This is in no way different.