(I don't meant to be obnoxious here, but I think everybody can benefit from this information)

1. If you reply to a privatized comment, will the reply be privatized as well? Will they show as public, but as non-threaded comments? Do other people see a "privatized comment" filter so they know I'm replying to a comment that was privatized?

2. Is there a way I could turn off my comment notification on the Bloop Bar when I reply to a comment in my own diary?

3. Are long threads going to shrink the comments or stretch the page?

4. Is "converse" going to become obsolete?

I don't think converse is going to become obsolete.

I personally would use converse to reply to a comment (private or otherwise.), versus just replying on my entry, unless my reply was pertinent to the other people viewing my entry.

Doesn't that become hard to keep track of?

...No not really. I've always just used the converse feature to reply to people.
The only real reason I'd reply to a comment on an entry is if it asked a question about something I'd left out or whatever. Which I don't think I've ever really done.

i prefer commenting the way it is. i probably won't use the reply thing, i'm used to hitting converse.

i asked steve about the comment threads shrinking, and he said it'd probably get implemented later on.

I'm going to *guess* that if you reply to a privatised comment, it won't be privatised, and it'll show up as, possibly, a threaded comment but with no root (or an incorrect one). Just my guess. xD You could always test it. If you're so inclined.

I don't think there's a way to turn it off, since replying to a comment on your own diary is probably the same as just leaving a comment at your diary.

On that note, I also think we should receive notifications in the task bar, rather than Bloop messages, whenever someone replies to a comment. I know that's getting a bit Facebooky, but it seems to make the most sense to me. And, it'll be a dropdown thing, a bit like the Favourites thing on the toolbar, and clicking on the item would take you to the reply on the person's entry. And it'd be nice if forum replies did that too. Getting Bloop-messaged each time is a little cumbersome to me. Ahh, the possibilities. xD

For the moment, they'll probably stretch the page... more so for some people with smaller resolutions than others, perhaps.

Annnd, no, I don't think it will. xD Like if I want to see the last comment someone left me (and it wasn't recent, so I can't readily access it in 'my comments'), I'm probably going to type their name to get to their diary and then hit 'converse'.

I'm not actually of any real authority to say those things, but those are my guesses, carefully crafted from observation and a bit of random thinking. xD

... although I guess if you want to save things for future reference, then getting a Bloop message about it maybe isn't such a bad idea.