I liked this piece a lot. I also miss long thought, and the feeling of satisfaction that comes with feverishly following a story until the very end.

Great writing talent encourages deeper reading. New York Magazine is fantastic for these kind of journalistic hooks, so I can't recommend it enough to other writers. Storytelling certainly helps in writing compelling pieces that keep eyes on the page.

In the case of Reddit, I think there's a great format that hearkens back to message boards and forums. Original poster links to a story, discussion broils, an inbox tells us that there's been direct activity with other human beings. It's the one outstanding example I can think of that inspires semi-intelligent forum-like discussion.

The other place for more realtime conversation seems to be IRC chat. Again, conversation comes in short bursts, but I do think it follows the natural progression of human interaction in the closest way possible without defaulting to a video format like a Skype session or G+ hangout.

But the most critical piece of all of this is social/media overload...

When is it our own responsibility to have a bit of self control in blocking out the noise so we can focus on the deeper story?

I don't believe it's the industry or software's fault. We just need to exercise a bit more focus in what we choose to dig into.