Why do we assume that open plan offices foster more friendliness and openness just because they are laid out like that? In fact I think that open plan offices are more likely to encourage the opposite behaviour because they allow people to hide in anonymity.
If you work in a small office, and your fellow colleagues give a cheery "hello" in the mornings, it is just downright unfriendly if you do not acknowledge them and wish them a "good morning" too. But the scale of open-plan offices is such that people can just keep their heads down and not reply.
Not having barriers is artificial because one cannot have a conversation without everyone, however unintentionally, listening in. Later on, when the subject is brought up again, for the sake of politeness you must pretend not to have heard already and greet the news with fresh interest.
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