My current modus operandi for LW is to use the LW favorite I have in place to (1) Check SSC and the other "Rationality Blogs" on the side bar, and then (2) peruse discussion (and sometimes comment) if there isn't a new post at SSC, et al that commands my attention. I wonder if other LWers do the same? I wonder what percentage of LW traffic is "secondary" in a way similar to what I've described?

As a a data point, this is exactly how I've been using LessWrong for at least the last year. One of the reasons I more frequently comment in open threads is because we can have less idle conversations like this one as well :P