There is prior art for this. I've seen forums that permit turning on notices for all posts by specific users, which in itself looks to satisfy every claim, sinc

There is prior art for this. I've seen forums that permit turning on notices for all posts by specific users, which in itself looks to satisfy every claim, since they also include a "what's new" feed which is basically just a dumping of posts anywhere on the site into 1 place. They behave like a miniature twitter in that regard. IRC clients also notify the user when messages targeting them (via your handle, similar to @handle) are received, and I've seen scripts that pull comments from specific users from any open channels, and the opposite (namely blocking users) has been present in countless applications, which indicates the concept of paying special attention to a specific user isn't a new one. On top of this, I don't feel like there's anything that's innovative at all in this patent. Since when did the innovation step stop being a requirement?