Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sarcastic Responses vs Being on Topic and Polite

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
To a thread starter do nothing more than add unneeded fluff to a thread and be unproductive while putting down the OP

I have seen this numerous times and it always puzzles me why these posters would rather post a rather unwitty remark vs not post at all.

One of many examples I am talking about: namely the first 2 responses to the OP
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/909819/

I believe these types of posts should not be tolerated and will say they are annoying to read when looking at a thread
 
When used appropriately, wisecracking can make the forums friendlier. But some joking is ill-advised, when it's at the expense of someone who doesn't welcome it. And sometimes what the poster intended may not be how a post is received.

The thread you mention includes a discussion of the initial posts. The thread-starter chose to talk about it directly. But yes, the posts could have been reported instead.

With humor (or attempts at humor) the moderators will consider whether it's harmless fun, good-natured joking, or mean-spirited teasing and whether or not it derails the thread.
 
Realize that using the internet brings out the inner Comic Book Guy in most of us and it all becomes clear.

comic_book_guy.jpg
 
I agree with you...its very annoying that people post sarcastic comments or post about wrong grammar/english.
Who cares if english is wrong? not everyone's first language is english
and if those people have nothing to post about except rude remarks and correcting english, then why do they even bother to waste their time and reply?
It’s very very irritating.
 
pukifloyd said:
I agree with you...its very annoying that people post sarcastic comments or post about wrong grammar/english.
Who cares if english is wrong? not everyone's first language is english
and if those people have nothing to post about except rude remarks and correcting english, then why do they even bother to waste their time and reply?
It’s very very irritating.
Click to expand...

Usually because they don't know the answer to the OP's questions. ;)

I love the ones who post "Search first" and that's it (almost as bad the ****** posts).
 
We could also do without posts saying "yawn" in news threads. Any story will be uninteresting to some subset of us, but do we really need to hear from them about it? When people have no interest in a story, they should entertain themselves by voting negative, or better yet ignoring it completely, instead of sharing their lack of anything to share!
 
Who are these idiots with their sarcastic replies anyway. :D

Seriously, to the O.P., it's everyone's site. Perhaps your opinion is that the obnoxious, trouble-making hooligans that posted those naughty replies should have instead stopped for a moment to smell a flower, and then politely tell the poster that he or she is a terrific person and built up his or her self-esteem with a post like "LOL! I agree totally, you were so mean but now you are saying sorry to the inanimate iPad case that's great LOL". On the other side of the coin, I imagine those mirthful, sarcastic pranksters are probably (can't say for sure, since I myself can't relate to people of their "ilk") of the opinion that dumb posts deserve dumb responses; yet while there are plenty of dumb posts to be found, there are no truly "bad" posts since even dumb posts can be quite fun and often lead to truly useful posts (such as this one).
 
Disc Golfer said:
Realize that using the internet brings out the inner Comic Book Guy in most of us and it all becomes clear.

comic_book_guy.jpg
Click to expand...

Haha

Doctor Q said:
When used appropriately, wisecracking can make the forums friendlier. But some joking is ill-advised, when it's at the expense of someone who doesn't welcome it. And sometimes what the poster intended may not be how a post is received.

The thread you mention includes a discussion of the initial posts. The thread-starter chose to talk about it directly. But yes, the posts could have been reported instead.

With humor (or attempts at humor) the moderators will consider whether it's harmless fun, good-natured joking, or mean-spirited teasing and whether or not it derails the thread.
Click to expand...

I agree, there are a lot of people who try to be funny but aren't.
 
-aggie- said:
Usually because they don't know the answer to the OP's questions. ;)

I love the ones who post "Search first" and that's it (almost as bad the ****** posts).
Click to expand...

+1...some people search out the forums to find duplicate posts, only to make comments to "SEARCH FIRST". It is quite annoying!:D
 
-aggie- said:
Usually because they don't know the answer to the OP's questions. ;)

I love the ones who post "Search first" and that's it (almost as bad the ****** posts).
Click to expand...

By "love" you mean "hate" right?

And MRoogle zealots seem to butt up against the anti-bump sectarians.

Ask a question, and you get whacked by a MRooglist.

Find an old thread but have a new question, and get whacked by anti-bumpers.

Some days I go through this board and get the feeling that the last thing anyone wants is someone to post anything.

mt
 
mysterytramp said:
Ask a question, and you get whacked by a MRooglist.
Click to expand...

The Mrooglists and the search Nazis that post "Search first!" without a link to Mroogle, the search results, or duplicate threads should be reported for being pointless. Those that provide the necessary links are assisting whoever to follow the forum rules regarding searching and posting duplicate threads in the future.

Find an old thread but have a new question, and get whacked by anti-bumpers.
Click to expand...

How often does this actually happen? There are a few thread revives that are relevant, but sometimes it's just obvious that a new member has searched for something they may or may not find relevant and posts "+1" or something similarily meaningless to increase their post count for whatever reason.
 
mysterytramp said:
...

Find an old thread but have a new question, and get whacked by anti-bumpers.

...
Click to expand...

miles01110 said:
...



How often does this actually happen? There are a few thread revives that are relevant, but sometimes it's just obvious that a new member has searched for something they may or may not find relevant and posts "+1" or something similarily meaningless to increase their post count for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

I think it's fine to add a related question (or answer) to an existing thread, as long as the thread isn't so old that subsequent updates create a situation where the info in the older posts is hopelessly out of date. It's better IMO to collect all the info about a problem in one thread - not spread it out only because a post is old. Makes it easier for people who do actually search to find what they're looking for. :p

But yeah, adding "+1" to an old thread is usually just post padding and should be reported.

My 2 cents, anyway.
 
I've talked privately with another member before this kind of thing. It irritates me, because people either say just use the Search feature, or say use MRoogle.

MRoogle is great if you give a link.

I find the Forum search to be less than great. It either won't find what you're looking for based on incorrect keywords, etc. or, an answer will be so deeply buried in a thread that Kobe Bryant couldn't penetrate it. It's just never worked that well for me, which I think is why snotty answers that just tell people to "search" aren't exactly "beneficial" to this forum.
 
MattG said:
Welcome to the Internets.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately. And yet, I feel like MR has a good user base, so it shouldn't be that bad... especially that crack about twitter. And i know I too have said some pretty sarcastic remarks, stuff I never would have said had in been in person.

No, I have no advice. I just agree.

P.S. And I'm aware I could have just twitted "I agree" too ;)
 
Love said:
I've talked privately with another member before this kind of thing. It irritates me, because people either say just use the Search feature, or say use MRoogle.
Click to expand...
I go back and forth on this and to be honest, I've posted please use search instead of creating a new thread. The majority of time, the answer to the OP's question has already been answered, all he needs to do is look.

I agree though that the please use search or mroogle can come off as snotty or the wrong way.
 
My sugestion: If you think it will be easy to find a previous thread with the answer to a question, do the search yourself and post the link to that thread. You can also mention how you found the thread by searching, so they'll know how to help themselves the next time.

Other people who read the thread will be able to follow the link to the answer, will be reminded about searching, and will see a good example of how to reply to someone who could have searched.

Win-win-win.
 
Doctor Q said:
My sugestion: If you think it will be easy to find a previous thread with the answer to a question, do the search yourself and post the link to that thread. You can also mention how you found the thread by searching, so they'll know how to help themselves the next time.

Other people who read the thread will be able to follow the link to the answer, will be reminded about searching, and will see a good example of how to reply to someone who could have searched.

Win-win-win.
Click to expand...
I completely agree! Many who are new to the forum don't know about MRoogle. You do them a favor if you post a link to MRoogle, along with a link to an existing thread that addresses their question that you found with MRoogle. They not only get the answer; they now know how to get many other answers without posting and waiting for responses.
 
pukifloyd said:
I agree with you...its very annoying that people post sarcastic comments or post about wrong grammar/english.
Who cares if english is wrong? not everyone's first language is english...
Click to expand...

Exactly. Not everyone's first language is English. And if your first language isn't English, then you have a real problem understanding what someone who is too lazy to use their own language correctly writes. So be polite and write proper English so that everybody can understand it.

I mean how much effort does it take to write "it's very annoying" instead of "its very annoying"? "its" is a possessive pronoun indicating ownership - "it's" is an abbreviation for "it is". Someone whose first language isn't English reads by examining the words and constructing the meaning. And after the third word or so that person figures out that the sentence doesn't make any sense, then they start again from the beginning, still makes no sense, _then_ they start looking for a replacement for the first word, and it isn't obvious, because "its" and "it's" are completely unrelated words. And all that effort because you are too lazy to write proper English.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back