purpose of mentioning a user name (i.e. @USERNAME)

apart from having an auto link to the user's profile, is there any other purposes of mentioning a user like @sprockett?
Does it appear in the user's notification or something like that?
thx...
Does it appear in the user's notification or something like that?
thx...
0
Comments
@sprockett
I got mail notification a couple of times beeing mentioned like this - great tool to get people to watch this discussion
@vegano
awesome! haha i got this instant you mentioned me... really cool stuff.