Do the droll little comments that appear in the upper right do so randomly?

Or are they actually somehow related to tracking flutherers—like if you’ve been on inordinately long—a message like “Isn’t that your mother calling you for dinner” and if you just got a laugh out of someone or if a discussion you are in is getting intense and interesting “Would you have this dance with me?” I’d like to know more about fluther-tracking. Is it just a machine that knows 2 are typing answers and 8 are watching or do people pay attention?