Quote Originally Posted by Gman View Post
You're comparing apples and oranges. In the example you just gave, not everyone may be a party to that verbal conversation. Here, every conversation is open and in written form that lives beyond a face-to-face encounter. The text is also searchable.
Be that as it may, what is the big deal about multiple threads on the same subject? If you could do it, would you actively go around a party trying to get the people who are talking about the same things into the same group? Maybe it would be good for their conversation, maybe it wouldn't, but it would definitely be socially unacceptable for you to do.

It would also be weird for me to ask around what everyone is and has been previously talking about, before I start up a conversation of my own.

If you don't start a fresh conversation, then your post is just an off spin of the OP, which maybe isn't what you want.