I've yet to see shy strangers on the internet, sheesh! Yeah, it's like that 8th grade dance, nobody wants to say anything, or be the first to dance. That's the internet for ya.
Yeah that's it. Everyone will buy that one..
As a new medium that is still unfamiliar, the initiating of conversation was also meant to remove inhibitions of members that often feared being the first to post or “sound stupid”- a dynamic that is common to most social settings.