Ask HN: Do you ever contact people who have had a positive impact on you?

In the last year or so I've tried to make an effort to email people who have had some sort of positive impact on me. I specifically choose email because to me it feels more personal than a tweet or some other equivalent.

I've emailed quite a few people and have been very surprised at the 100% reply rate I've received and in some instances, the conversations that have developed from them.

The emails are usually very short, personalised messages along the lines of "Hi X, thank you very much for Y. It had a positive impact on me because of Z. All the best"

Some of the people include small to medium sized musicians, authors, developers, and teachers.

I kind of feel like a bit of a weirdo doing it because I don't really hear of many people who do the same. But sometimes I just genuinely want to thank a person for what they've contributed.

You're not the only one who does this. I have a small collection of thank you emails I've sent and received I use for motivation.

It's definitely not to common, but I think it's great to send positive vibes down the wires.

I think one reason this is so is the fear that this might be misconstrued as brown-nosing.

It’s a much appreciated gesture, having received some myself.

I’d say a physical letter stands out even more.

I recently subscribed to a Patreon for a Youtuber that I watch, and sent them a message through the platform basically thanking them for making the comment.

This was the first time I've also become a Pateron for somebody, but I really felt like I wanted to give back/support their content.

They did respond with a nice message too so it seemed that it actually reached them.