[pmlnr]

> I feel the connections it brings us, or helps us maintain, are too important to lose.

I felt the same way about IRC rooms. They are gone now.

[jpindar]

Are they? For half the year I spend hours every Sunday on an irc channel full of football fans. That connection is important to me, since the level of discussion there is higher, (and more civilized, due to active moderation) than most forums.