Let's get something straight about sarcastic comments here, shall we?

I agree. I forget that newbies might not get the sarcasm and we need to let them know about the tilde.

I agree as well. Without visual and aural cues, it’s hard to tell sometimes, so I guess even the most obvious can slip by some users on occasion….

When I read the tilde, I hear the comment in my head with a sarcastic voice… since I am generally a deadpan deliverer of sarcasm, I can’t bring myself to use the tilde. That’s just me.

I think some people just have a tin ear. I personally like the subtlety of not using it but that’s just me.

People just expect me to be funny in every post. I wish there was a tilde-like symbol that means “I’m fucking serious here!”

Both @dappled_leaves and @filmfann expressed my exact sentiments on this issue.

If people don’t know me by now…<shrug>.

A fat lot of good it does to use it if no one knows what it is.~

I know I’m late to the discussion, but the tilde seems inappropriate for this.

First, how do you mark the beginning and end of the sarcastic statement? Does it just go at the end of the sentence?

Second, tilde is used as approximately. Wouldn’t that be confusing?

Why not use the more universal html entities or tags (”<sarcasm></sarcasm>”). The main advantage is that it is clear to the reader when the sarcasm begins and ends. You also open up the possibility of using tags to indicate other intentions or emotions by customizing the tags to fit what you are trying to express. Plus, there is no learning curve. I had no idea that the symbol for approximately was being used here to mark a statement as sarcastic.

Plus, there are many here who avoid sarcasm as being too heavy-handed and employ slyness, tough-in-cheekiness, and best of all, irony. A good wordsmith lets the words tell the tale.

@gailcalled : Please tell me that ”tough-in-cheekiness” was deliberate, it’s so evocative! I love it!

Milo here: You don’t really think that Gail couldn’t come up with a decent phrase once-in-a-while? Considering how hard she tries, occasionally even she will bat one out of the park.

I thought everyone understood all of our conventions here on Fluther.~

I think we need a special sign for sarcasm from cats!

I just prefer everyone think I’m an asshole.

You’re not?~ :-)

No.~

A remark tagged as sarcastic isn’t.

The misunderstandings are quite amusing.

I’m no newbie to this site by a longshot and I know full well that it is not always sarcasm but outright disrespect towards certain users. Fluther is no different from other websites I’ve been a member of and they all have their cliques and paradigms.

It is not just the tilde that makes a remark sarcastic, I believe.
If I say: ”@somezen Yeah, of all Jellies you would know of course how a 10K party, in your honor, feels…. ~”, I think @somezen knows what I mean and understands that I say it jokingly.
If I say: ”@anyotheruser You are a snake, your family sucks, your responses are never worth to read, and I hate your guts. ~” I think it is clear that the tilde can’t mask the fact that I insulted @anyotheruser.

They must pass out big brains in Holland! (And no tilde!)

@janbb Not just brains…...;-)

Egos as well? Oops. Forgot the ~

I had not heard about this Tilde thing until just now.

@Kardamom -Again with the links? ~

@FutureMemory Yup…, and my ego is about 3 inches.

@rebbel My “grandson” is all talk and no action!

@janbb What Links are you referring to? ~

Maybe this Link or maybe even these Links? ~

@Kardamom Oy – I think I have to take up golf when I read your posts!

@janbb Shhhhhh, don’t bring up anything relating to “18 holes,” or you just get @zensky all riled up.

And we won’t mention boobies either!

I know what that symbol signifies, so I guess I’m not a newbie.
But even so, suppose someone forgot to put it at the end of their comment. You are still able to get a good idea of the tone that person is using.

Seeing sarcasm is the dish best served very dry, when I dish it I offer them a glass of water, or not, if it wasn’t that dry.

@Hypocrisy_Central Please don’t ever leave Fluther.

Why would I do that? Who else would there be to try to correct and proof-read? It would be like a convention of math pros, they won’t have anyone around to point out for their mislabeled of a prime number.

I never know when I’m using sarcasm or not, unless someone tells me.

@Hypocrisy_Central No, it would be like a message board with no one to be told they need to make a habit of proofreading their posts. But I get your point.

I must admit to being a frequent mis-typer of the dreaded tilde. It seems to happen most often when I am going for the exclamation mark. I am a touch typist and try to watch the screen (I rarely watch my fingers except when typing numbers), so I sometimes miskey and hit the tilde by accident with no evil intent. In fact it serves to dampen the enthusiasm I was originally seeking with the exclamation mark. It happens to me much more often on FB and other places where the ENTER key dooms one to the error. At least on Fluther, I have to stop typing and reach for the mouse to go for the ANSWER button~ er !

I generally use tongue-in-cheek :-p since the tilde ~ isn’t commonly known to most people to be an emoticon in and of itself.

I didn’t know about that thing. Like @HungryGuy, the closest to that which I’m familiar with is the :p I always thought emoticons were a pretty good way to indicate what you mean online, since there’s no tone of voice to perceive anything by, which might be confusing to some.
But sarcasm is always better without any kind of indication. Still, guess you have a point, when it comes to a tight knit online community like this one, which really identifies with its own culture. We could be a fucking meme!
I use them, but for the sake of convenience and because I don’t want to spend hours having to explain myself for some mundane or stupid joke I may have made. This goes for everywhere I go online though, not just here.

I prefer to not give a visual cue to someone I may be trying to intellectually undercut.

The way you guys talk about newbies eerily reminds me of a well established q&a cult… we shouldn’t forget that people who don’t join this site, actually might use it to find answers of questions, and that there are ads off this site for the general public to view. I’m on the boat where answers should be more black and white and not personal at all. Jellies can bring personalities into the chat room in my opinion.

@whitetigress This is not only a Q&A site, it is a community. We have gotten to know each other and interact with each other. Sorry you don’t like that aspect of this community.

What?, People post comments that are sarcastic? Is there one for knowing saying something stupid?
I am a newbie and learned something new today!!

If it was that important (and endorsed), why not put it in the little line below the window that says “Style your text!”

@HungryGuy – I never knew that meant tongue in cheek, I love that!!! Thanks for enlightening me.

I think if people are too dense to recognize sarcasm as opposed to serious point making, then they are probably too damned dense to recognize the tilde thingy.

But if you like that idea then maybe we should have a symbol for ignorance and arrogance and aggressive remarks, one for each emotion that is exhibited in the Flutherdom community. Then no one will ever be confused of offended.

Tilde not necessary. People will get the hang of it. It’s not a kindergarten.

@perspicacious Heh… if it was just that easy then we could all politely discuss politics, religion and there would be world peace. ~

For those curious as to why I brought this up – check out my comment, the first, on this thread and the subsequent discussion. Some people actually thought I was being serious. Should I have used the tilde?

Yes, absolutely.~

Even if anyone doesn’t know you and your sense of humor, that would sound tongue in cheek or sarcasm or smart ass. I am touchy as can be about such stuff and even I am not upset about that. Especially since we all know that older men have similar shriveling problems and the same fate awaits them as well.

I try to always use the tilde. The written word needs all the expressive help it can get, especially if the reader is tired. I also tend to read responses with a tilde because I know I am free to laugh.

Zen I did not know that women shriveled… totally thought it was a dude thing.~

Like the wicked witch of the east + water.~

That was melting, not shriveling. However a splash of cold water for the Great Oz….~

You say melt, I say shrivel.

@chyna When did I say I don’t like that aspect? Oh geez, looks like some gang tackling about to go on. Come get the newb, get it while its hot…

LIke other overused expressions, both verbal and semiotic, might the tilde get tiresome after a while?

@whitetigress : This is not the first time you’ve expressed concern at what you perceive as “gang activity” on Fluther, and I’m confused about how you come to that, especially in this thread. Can you explain, please?

@JilltheTooth It’s quite simple actually. One rebuttles and puts forth a perception about a user that has posted a statement. People agree with that person by giving it a great answer, although the accusation doesn’t exist. Example. Chyna stated at me, “This is not only a Q&A site, it is a community. We have gotten to know each other and interact with each other. Sorry you don’t like that aspect of this community.”

In any of the previous comments I have left, I have stated nothing of the sort upon her conclusion of me not liking the aspect of the community. Yet, people agree with her, siding with her, for something that doesn’t exist. That to me, is a form of gang tackling. As to say, “Yeah I’m going to great answer this, that’ll show him…”

My original answer to the post is, “The way you guys talk about newbies eerily reminds me of a well established q&a cult… we shouldn’t forget that people who don’t join this site, actually might use it to find answers of questions, and that there are ads off this site for the general public to view. I’m on the boat where answers should be more black and white and not personal at all. Jellies can bring personalities into the chat room in my opinion.” Which was to answer the question pertaining to how an outsider might view Fluther as a Q&A site first. So, by chyna adding the statement, “Sorry you don’t like that aspect of this community.” It makes me look like a total jack ass, and people back that up, because they probably feel that way about me too, under what premise though?
Obviously if she had a personal bone to pick with me, she could’ve personally messaged me instead of putting me on blast with her personal feelings towards me specifically. But by painting me out as such a character who, ‘doesn’t like the community of Fluther’ is just absurd. Is it because I’m a newbie with such an overbearing opinion that it makes me wrong? or right? No, it is merely an observation I have that makes me think that the way Jellies talk about newbies makes this place sound like you have to belong, and be known, like its a well established community, which it is, but I get a cult type of feel when it becomes, “us” and “them”.
My point to my answer is to address the fact that outsiders view this site without having to join, although it is an element to our community that is probably most likely known that there is sarcasm, someone from the outside looking in for straight answers might be turned off by the sarcastic answers, or perceive that answer as stated. I don’t have beef with @chyna but I won’t deny that I was being thrown under a bus and being painted as something I’m not.

@whitetigress Your statement: I’m on the boat where answers should be more black and white and not personal at all. Jellies can bring personalities into the chat room in my opinion made me think you didn’t like the aspect that we are also a community. I didn’t throw you under the bus. You give me too much credit that I’m out to get you. I was actually trying to explain how Fluther feels to me. I wasn’t being mean or sarcastic at all.

One neither buttles nor rebuttles here, unless I haven’t been paying attention.

And there are no nefarious cabals. As in any community, whether online or at your local library, there will be people who agree with you and those who don’t. They are often the same people.

I hope I never get on Chyna’s bad side…<shiver>

Oh, good grief, @whitetigress , I had read both of your posts and @chyna‘s post, understood them all perfectly, and saw nothing to indicate that she was attempting to make you look like a jack ass, that was entirely your interpretation. Shall I repeat my entire post back to you? “This is not the first time you’ve expressed concern at what you perceive as “gang activity” on Fluther, and I’m confused about how you come to that, especially in this thread. Can you explain, please?” I was more interested in you addressing the fact that that you have assumed a gang mentality before this thread, not simply parroting back the posts and explaining them in a way that was apparent to an educated person that would be me whose native language is, indeed, English. I saw no under-bus throwing, if you perceived an attack, flag it and move on. By carrying on this way, and poking us with sharp sticks, yes, you will get more vehement disagreements that you can call vicious, but really are, after all is said and done, just disagreements.

@chyna no hard feelings, i apologize

@whitetigress Apology accepted, all is good.

@FutureMemory, @chyna only has a good and even better side.

Just for the record, it is ridiculous to claim that there are no cliques, or groups in Fluther. One need only look at a couple of questions in social or meta to see that there are groups who feed off of each other, who interact in a fashion that some may consider inane or silly. I think the folks who complain of the cliques are probably feeling left out or as an outsider because they are not included in that witty repartee. Now a newbie might possibly fit into that catagory. I don’t think that constitutes ganging up, but it could be construed that way. The chatter and banter is a part of fluther and I guess if it unnerves anyone, there are several choices, ignore it and answer questions in general, answer questions which intrigue you regardless of where they are and when the silliness begins, bail, or find another site that is more to your liking. I have been here quite a while now and have seen many come and go and it never fails to remind me of any family, there are some totally dysfunctional members, and some genuinely good, smart, caring folks too! Which there are more of depends upon the moment!

@whitetigress Besides all that – you’re reading way too much into the little click of a button. Sometimes a GA is just a GA. Without even giving it too much thought, some of us GA simply for replying in our Question, or because it’s a friend, or force of habit. Four or five GA’s on an answer isn’t “ganging up” on anyone.

Remember, there is no tone here, ony words; which some use more carefully, or carelessly, than others. It is up to you how to read between the lines.

:-) <<<< That was just a smile.

buttles

Rebuttles

Rebuttles

I don’t use the tilde, ever.
I use winks and smiles and grins and “lol” to denote my intentions.

I’m not really of a sarcastic persuasion, in the negative sense, I’m all about humor and irony and, on rare occasion, if I am displeased with someones words or behaviors, you’ll know it.

I shoot from the hip and don’t use rubber bullets.

@Kardamom: Now that’s funny in spite of the lack of either emoticons or acronyms. (Although the dog has every right to file a law suit against the perpetrator.)

Politely? I just said this isn’t kindergarten.