Sure, better forum software. I won't dismiss the appeal of that. It seems, though, that the underlying problem isn't related at all to technology, but rather in the use of it; and before you put forth, with a strained kind of hopefulness, that we can *change* the tech to get people to use it (better), there's this: it isn't about forum software, or any of that. Because the technology we're *really* talking about isn't the forum or the social network, it's the technology of language and text.

It's about how much text there is out there, and people's reasons for treating it dismissively. It's about people's ambivalence, if not outright boredom or frustration, towards expressing themselves through text, in particular long-form text. It's hard to articulate what you mean, especially when what you're trying to say requires a lot of words. It's also hard to read what someone else is trying to say unless they're good at articulating themselves with lots of words (though hopefully no more than they need).

Writing is an art: and not everyone feels compelled (whether for reasons of time or relevance is beside the point) to become an artist. And we haven't even gotten to critical thinking yet. Suffice it to say, I think the problem runs far deeper than forum software, or even software at all.