I think generally because in chat people are kind of expected to reply to comments right away, and if people don't, it's just lame.
People, or at least I, don't want to be on the hook for that, it's like talking on the phone to a relative that you like but hate talking to on the phone.
I like to read through the threads, commenting on just a few that I feel I can actually contribute to. It's at my own pace and discretion. You can check some topic, then go to work, and maybe check back on a coffee break or just later at home. (Because I never use the work computer for play.
)
I've seen a few chats on various forums and they seem to go like this:
<User 1 logged on>
<User 2 logged on>
Hi.
Hi.
This is cool.
Yeah, cool.
What should we talk about?
Uh, bikes.
Okay.
Okay, what?
You start.
Um, I like them.
Who?
Bikes.
Oh.
<User 1 logged off>
Um, okay, bye I guess.
<User 2 logged off>
<User 3 logged on>
Hi, this is cool. Anyone want to talk about bikes?
Hello?
<User 3 logged off>
-K
