Same. The only person listed that I follow is Ken Jennings and I don't think he's ever posted something that isn't a straight up joke. So as I was reading I got the feeling the author was just missing the context of the rest of the twitter feeds, or missing that the entire reason to follow some celebrity on twitter might be to hear about the unusual things that go on in their lives.
But then he got to the part about his friend telling what sounds like an amusing story having to pay for an award. And maybe now I'm the one missing all the context, but I don't get it: can't our friends tell us about their success without it being interpreted as an assertion of superiority?
I missed it at first as well, but the author clarifies at the end that he was wrong about his friend, and advocates a "tolerance devoid of condescension" towards people who behave in such a manner.
He's still claiming that his friend was "trying to combat their own perceived weakness" by asserting his worth in this manner.
And maybe he was, I don't know the guy, but when my friends tell me stories about their successes I don't take it as an assertion of worth, I take it as them sharing a part of their life with me.
