I remember doing that. Writing long, involved author's notes. Trying to be witty. People do that because they want to be seen as charming and funny, and they don't know any other way to do it. An A/N is sort of safe, in that you aren't addressing a single person, but just whoever happens to come and read your fic. It's sort of like putting a sign on your front lawn that says "This is the home of a sane, intelligent, witty individual who enjoys making friends."

I stopped doing it, eventually. But I'm just saying, it's out of insecurity. A lot of people are terrified of commenting on someone else's stuff, and they're worried they'll be offensive or just...seen as stupid, somehow. So yeah, blending in is good. It's just unlikely to happen with a lot of people. It's like teenagers acting out and then they leave high school and they grow up. Sort of a rite of passage type thing.

But then, maybe I've been reading too many anthropology articles on Wikipedia lately, lol.