New ways of Dialoging, Old Human Habits

I am fascinated with the way the Internet is changing how we communicate, but also how so much of what is communicated stays the same. The web can't seem to change the way  we communicate (our personal habits) with the same speed at which we communicate. The case in point would be the ways forums have changed since the mid-90s to the present. Remember chat rooms? I don't know anyone who uses those anymore. Remember bulletin boards? They're still around in one way or the other, updated to forums, but they are everywhere! And who really has active, topical conversations in them? Truly, we say things in forums we might not say to someone's face, but without the face in sight it's also much easier to get ticked off and leave. More active are the lurkers who check in and never post but just watch, and then leave.

What has changed are the notions about what readers want from what they read. Content Givers believe that Content Receivers want more control. Now that distribution of content is readily available to anyone, (albeit without the marketing money) the big Content makers feel hard pressed to find and deliver to stay alive. The trouble with that is that it makes Content Recievers skeptical that attention on them relates less to their person then to their wallet. So the trick is to get the person not to think about their wallet, but only the quality of the service.