> If no-one responds, it simply may be that no response is necessary. A story of what I had for dinner last night is unlikely to get a response beyond, "Hey, wow, I had that, too!" A discussion on the Meaning of Life or "What constitutes a good movie", or even, "Is chewing gum food?" is liable to go on for several pages.

Hmm, but people aren't likely to give a short reply because they feel it wouldn't be worth posting, when in fact it would be valuable to at least the person who wrote the original post.