Honestly, it's been like this since day one back in 1.0. The world just doesn't see a lot of /say or /shout, or /yell now. It's almost all in the linkshells and free companies and always has been.

I always try to chat up my friends in /say if we're near each other though. Keeps LS/FC uncluttered and feels more real. Plus sometimes we make friends from random people eavesdropping. That's always fun.