But now that I think about it I do remember seeing the odd @ reply and you naturally think hey why not me? He doesn’t owe me anything but I took the time out to say something in a completely unfanboyish way.

At the end of the day I think I dropped Wheaton’s twitter feed because it was frankly boring for me – and I think I like that with the people I do follow I have at least a chance of interacting.

Someone already pointed out that celebrities on Twitter likely get the same amount of @replies as they would fan mail, which means the chances of any @reply being read and deemed worthy of another @reply are low. The same is true even of an internet celebrity like John Gruber, who has over 15,000 followers.

We should simply enjoy the fact that celebrities and politicians are embracing Twitter as a legitimate means of broadcasting snippets of information. I feel more connected to them this way, and this feeling is enough for me. I expect nothing more.

Anyway, I understand where you’re coming from, but I find that I get decidedly very few @replies from anyone with the legions of followers Wil and John sport, and I suspect it’s for the reasons cited above. But that’s just a hunch.

During the Q&A after the reading, there was one questioner in particular who was overly awkward; and on some level, Hodgman seemed to be very aware of this. The questioner kept rambling on with no question in sight. And at every opportunity, Hodgman offered a graceful exit for this gentalman, to which the questioner never seemed to catch on. Eventually, Hodgman was able to coax a question out of the young man, who blurted out, “Are you gay?!”

Hodgman paused for a moment, slightly deflated (as was the rest of the room), and somberly reported back, “No, I am not.” This should have been clear, as there was numerous mentions of his wife over the course of the night; but the question was clearly brought up to be a “on-the-spot” “joke”.

I got the sense that these awkward encounters are regular for John, but that he still feels a sense of pride and responsiblity to embrase all of his “nerd-kind”. He even mentions in his new book that he likes when people engage him in cross encounters. Because of this, I don’t hold it against him that he infrequently replies; but it does seem strangly counter to the rest of his interactions.

The purpose of Twitter is communication. Well, communication requires two, a sender and a receiver, and is successful only when the former receives confirmation of the latter’s receipt of his/her message. The alternative, as you say, is talking “at” someone.

Heck, I don’t need Twitter for that! I can turn on my television to talk at Samantha Brown. Unfortunately, that’s what happens when I send her an @ reply as well.

I know that many people use Twitter to pimp their own stuff. That’s fine, but now when it’s all your Twitter account is used for.

Now, I’ve had better luck with those who are Internet Famous. Andy Inhatko has replied to me, as has Shawn King and of course, my friend Ged (can I call you a friend at this point, Ged?).

It’s kind of a bummer, as Twitter provides an extremely easy way for someone to make a fan’s day.

Oh man, I really dropped the ball on that one. That would have been killer! Nice one.

dv, thanks for saying so. I’ve always tried to respond to anyone who writes to me or the Iconfactory. I hate it when you contact people and they don’t take the time to reply. Guess that paid off.

Macfixer, pretty awesome that Wil wrote you back, you must have touched him or been really witty or something. For the record, you’re pretty rad yourself.

John, thanks for the nod to Greg! I’ve enjoyed him in this season of Heroes so far. The turtle is making the perfect comedic sidekick and I think he’s having fun this year.

//k