You may laugh, moderator padawan, but at one time such a feature was seriously discussed for the likes of H0cu$ and JohnGalt (the 2004 original model, not the recent versions)... they would have been able to post to their heart's content and never would have noticed that no one was ever responding directly to them.
(*thunk-thunk*) Hello? Is this thing on?
I've jokingly suggested this feature in recent months, I didn't know it had been seriously discussed in the past.