Well if it's really a good feature, then people will use it

And again here I do disagree. Hush, mute, and ignore are great features. I love that I have them. I have ignored one user, muted two users, and hushed three of them. Just because they are great features do not mean that I am using them all the time. I get hush/ignore/mute guilt. It's not an easy decision for me, I hate to feel like I am filtering out things without knowing what I am filtering. You really have to bother me before I use one of these features. Other users implement them with impunity, as is their right, and just because we use those features differently doesn't mean I think either way is better.

I think it's all a matter of personality. I think thenewgreen and insom and lil and such people that I named in my post usually love new users. Yes, the influx is a challenge, but some people really love engaging new people. I'm not one of those. I'm one of those to stand in the shadows and bitch about it...but I'm also not going to hide them all. I'd rather see everything so that I can bitch than hide it. Eventually one day my patience may run out and I may echo kleinbl00's approach. But - on the other hand - kb follows global. I don't follow global. So in that my whole experience of this new surge of users is already way, way different from him. If I did follow global maybe I would use this feature.

I think that the benefits Hubski offers of personalization mean that the people who feel they need to use this feature will. My feed is virtually unchanged right now. I'm actually scoping out global and #askhubski so I can see what the fuss is about. As a result, I'd never need this feature, but I'd probably see new users in things like comment threads.

Just because something is good, does not mean it is good or useful to everyone, I guess.