This is already in effect as the top comment on HN usually ends up being the tldr, and the creator gets the karma.
"this jaw dropping thing that happened will make you weep for humanity" `baby drops ice cream, dog eats it`
"Carrie Fisher destroys good morning America" `she throws out a few lighthearted quips, has a one-liner about jabba`
I think it really becomes effective on video content with extreme linkbait.
Personally, (and as a card-carrying crochety old man) I don't follow those links on principle. I'm carrying on my own little "boycott of one".
By instituting platform change though, to solve for linkbait inline (not requiring a page load to comments) would change the value proposition of headlines and I think it would be more likely to reward for quality content.
A TL;DR summary is not the same as "top comment" and TC is not always a TLDR ... One line, under the headline, crowd sourced and voted. I think it could fundamentally change behavior, and if the platform doing it was sufficiently large, the composition of the internet.
Me too, so that makes it at least a boycott of two. I'm not even a crotchety old man yet (early 30s), but it seems to be coming on fast ;)
Btw, TvTropes gives the kind of summary you describe under the "laconic" button, and it's a godsend.