Mad Men's appeal extends beyond ordinary television viewing. But with Twitter, fans not only share their appreciation but have also created their own personal parallel universe. To learn more about this social-networking phenomena, AMCtv.com spoke with Bud Caddell, an advertising strategist in New York City who runs the Mad Men fansite We Are Sterling Cooper. In the Twitter world, he's known as Bud Melman, the self-anointed Sterling Cooper mailroom clerk.

Q: How did this whole thing start?

A: I work in advertising so this show has particular relevance for me. What really happened first was the Tumblr blog -- "What would Don Draper do?" -- which was a really interesting take on these old characters popping up in new media, especially new advertising media. Don Draper popped up on Twitter and then instantly, you saw dozens of other characters pop up, including mine. I made my character up to be the Greek Chorus.

Q: How are characters assigned or chosen from the show in Twitter?

A: Originally it was anyone who jumped on it and registered that account, because that's the way Twitter works: If you have the account it's yours. Main characters like Don Draper and Peggy Olson were picked first. After that, we see one person will run three or four accounts to pick up some peripheral characters so they can do really interesting things together. I think you're seeing that with Francine's character and Betty Draper, so they can experience what's going on outside of Manhattan. For other people, it's what resonates most with them.

Q: How do people join your group?

A: If you have something interesting to say, go do it. You can always have a Twitter account which is "Don Draper," and another which is "don_draper." Once you start getting out there and we see you, we could contact you through a direct message in Twitter. There's probably 30 or 40 of us who have each other's emails and every once in a while, we'll send out a message with an idea of things to do together. For instance, there was a house party at the Drapers.

Q: Are there any characters you are looking for?

A: Honestly, I think almost every character in the show is there. The office copy machine has its own Twitter account! It's pretty insane how fast an account gets created when a character on the show gets mentioned.

Q: What should we know about Bud Melman?

A: Bud Melman is a young up-and-comer in the mailroom of Sterling Cooper. He's there to observe and comment on the goings-on. He's kind of the voice of reason.

Q: Will anything change for your group once the show goes back on air for Season 3?

Plot-wise Season 1 and Season 2 jumped so far in time, it will be interesting to see if that same thing happens this coming season. All of us will then be scrambling to see what's going on with our characters.