Having said that…
My goal was always to build relationships, i.e. have an equal number of followers as I follow. I got caught in the star game. I thought @ replies and DMs were too “spammy”. I see that was probably why I haven’t reached my goal. I vow that when I start tweeting again, it will be a more active endeavor. I will continue to star out of habit, but people may start seeing more replies and DMs from now on.