That works nicely. Although again you will get unintentional usage because ~ followed by a number is often used to mean approximately that number. eg: "we're expecting ~100 people". You are also using it for strikethrough formatting. Looking at my keyboard the least ambiguous/overused symbol is probably the & - but I'm not sure if that's better overall.

I think the ampersand is ok. It's doesn't much historical use for these things and being feels more like an append behavior than movement to or continuation of a conversation. >_2596, branded but looks and feels awkward >2596 or >>2596, I like the directionality and punch.