Well, it's vastly unlikely that they'd abandon their whole "social gaming" vision of the future over a forum spat, so yeah, I'm sure they will keep trying to edge us towards accepting greater integration into social networks (and the reduction in anonymity that likely accompanies this).

Regarding the "we should thank them" dispute, this is a mostly irrelevant point of courtesy, but yes in the "threatening to key my car" example, I actually would say "thanks" - if someone points out he can screw me over and I can't stop him, then decides not to because I asked him not to, I would thank him for that decision. I wouldn't overflow with sincere gratitude, but saying "thanks" is common courtesy when he didn't have to listen to me at all.

Thanking someone for not doing something they shouldn't do in the first place is stupid, as is this thread.