No. It’s so that people know we won’t see their questions or replies if they respond. We’re not ignoring you. We’re ignoring the thread.
I don’t do it all the time and a couple of times I’ve muted a thread without using 
I’ve actually had people say to me in other threads, “Why did you ignore me?” I wasn’t. I was ignoring the thread. So I try to post the icon so that others know I won’t see replies.