What decision did those that were already aware of it make, in order to optimise this activity?

I try to only talk to cool people. I talk to not-cool people when I think cool people might read it and be influenced. When I find cool people I'll try to talk them outside the context of LessWrong where not-cool people won't get in the way; alternatively I'll wait till a thread dies down and then reply to one of their comments to spark a discussion. "Cool" here means cool—calm—in temperament such that straw-men are less likely to get constructed and semi-insults flung, but it also means generally interesting.