Wherein delirium asks the question that someone will inevitably ask in the next few minutes.

As del already knows from our AIM conversation (in which I may or may not have given her this question), I’m not okay with people declaring their threads “snark-free zones” with the few exceptions of extremely personal matters. The Fluther protocol works: answer the question, and once there are a decent amount of valid answers, let the snark run free.

@lefteh You gave me the spark. I lit the fire all on my own.

I think the question becomes everyone’s question once it’s asked. It’s just like someone doesn’t own a conversation just because they started it. If I ask a question I can let people know what sort of response I’m hoping for. But that doesn’t mean that other types of responses are not ok because that’s not what I wanted.

I think there’s a time and place for different types of playfulness, and no one of us gets to decide for anyone else when that is…unless they’re a moderator. :^>

1) I think it’s appropriate to ask that everyone hold off on the snark. The request may not always be filled though, but that’s the nature of the game.
2) I tolerate it because I’m guilty of snarkiness too. To get mad when someone else does it, but continue to do it myself is just hypocritical.
3) I’m closer to some jellies than I am to others. I know their sense of humor and they know mine. If they can answer my question and make me laugh in the process it only makes me like them more. For the jellies I don’t know as well, I still appreciate their sharp wits, but responses with no real answer to the question (just snark) get real old real fast.
4) Sometimes I answer and add a bit of humor to it, sometimes it’s purely for laughs, sometimes there’s nothing to laugh about at all in my responses. It all depends on the question being asked (subject matter, tone, so forth) and who is doing the asking.
5) Like I said in part 1, I think it’s fair enough to ask that people check their snark at the door, but let’s face it, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes by saying people to hold off only makes them want to be more snarky. In other words, you can ask whatever you want of people, but they may not necessarily oblige.
6) I do think there are some rather silly questions, but those usually get silly answers. I think that in general the community does a pretty good job.

P.S. – Usually if a mod sees a question that hasn’t properly been answered yet but has several silly responses, he or she will add in a [mod says:] comment and try to get the discussion back on track.

1) I think if the question is serious enough it shouldn’t be necessary to declare it a “snark free” zone. If it isn’t serious then what’s the problem with snarking?

2) I don’t really take many things very seriously and I tolerate snark (enjoying it most of the time) from everyone.

3) See answer above

4) Sometimes I give a snarky answer in lieu of a real one, but most of the time I try to give my real answer first.

5) Technically when a question is asked in public it does become open for criticism. Before it was posted there was nothing to criticize. Whether it should be criticized or not depends on the seriousness of the question (and perhaps the ignorance of the person asking it)

6) Yes, I think some people ask questions without intending to get serious answers, so people poke fun at them (and sometimes even when the people are asking serious questions too).

AstroChuck asks why is delirium speaking of herself in the third person?

Delirium explains that she might be unqualified to ask this question in the first person.

One can put conditions on their questions if they wish, I suppose. Being a member of a paperback swapping site, I sometimes get requests that have conditions attached. It is my policy to avoid honoring requests that have such a condition.

On Fluther, unfortunately I am occasionally guilty of answering before I read to the bottom of the question, and unlike the paperback site, Fluther doesn’t have a bold ‘This question has conditons’ banner that displays. So, for these reasons, it is (suddenly) my policy when encountering such questions to remove (to the best of my abilty) my responses (snarky or not).

On the other hand, if there were no preconditions in the question and the asker comes back and criticizes the snarkiness of my response then I feel free to continue the conversation.

Ah. AstroChuck now understands.

Fireside is wondering what these guys have to do with Fluther.
———————————————

Well, “snarky” is really just a judgement call. People will either self moderate or they won’t. I don’t see a problem with requesting serious answers but, just like everywhere else, if you announce what bothers you then you open yourself up to the harassment.

Hopefully, members of the community are intelligent enough to try to look at the seriousness of a question and respond in kind, but that just can’t be expected it seems.

CAK got aggravated because of such a recent issue and will not post on questions with such restrictions. CAK thinks if you post a question on a public site you should be able to understand that you may not like what is said, but you put it out there – you run the risk of having snarky answers.

CAK has decided that she doesn’t like talking about herself in the 3rd person.

Can I just say that I am now in love with the word “snark”?

I am certainly guilty of much snark, but I am equally capable of dead serious answers as well as middle of the road, white bread answers.

Time and a place for everything. The key is to find the balance.

I say I can do whatever I want with my questions. I prefer that I get good answers before snark. Recently questions seem to be overrun with snark. Granted, I don’t have relationships with people like others do on here, but I don’t really want to build them. Perhaps if I respect a user a lot, see that they give a lot of good answers, I’ll tolerate (and possibly enjoy) their snark.
My issue comes when I see a user that has one good answer in every 10 and the rest is snark. I can’t take them seriously and I’d rather not slog through their answers.

That being said, there are certain questions that beg for stupid answers. I just feel like most questions don’t need smartass responses.

eponymoushipster feels that snark is a natural form of expression. eponymoushipster also feels that an answer can be both beneficial and snarkish. eponymoushipster thinks that conditions on a question (unless, yeah, it really serious/personal – abuse, thoughts of suicide, pregnant by an elected official) makes you look like you have a jellyfish up your poopshoot.

eponymoushipster realizes his handle is really long to type.

eponymoushipster also points out that in a real conversation, the tide turns and things go off from where they started. sit and have a long, 3–4 hr conversation with a group. after a couple of hours, sit back and wonder how you got to the topic you’re on from where the conversation started. eponymoushipster thinks you all know the answer.

. o O ( And a question about 4-letter words falls into which category? )

@Perchik “I say I can do whatever I want with my questions.”
This is true. But don’t expect to get the same quantity and quality of answers.

@Grisson ascii word art be deservin’ much lurve, mon.

I appreciate wit and humor when either or lacking, I am not one to play nice.
I have my moments I know, where I’ve gone too far, as have we all.

And yes, some people are begging for it. janets anyone?

I can say with absolute confidence that I have never, not even once provided any question with anything but the most considerate and informative answer. Why, the word “snark” does not even enter my vocabulary. Perhaps someone could proffer a definition?

Now, it is true that some questions don’t make sense, or are poorly worded, or poorly spelled, or even downright incomprehensible. Due to my inherent politesse, I can not name names, but you know who you are. When the question is about as clear as the water in the “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” I feel honorbound to answer the question in as fair and comprehensible way as I possibly can.

I let you all into a little secret of mine. I despise any form of sarcasm, irony, playfullness, and/or infidelity. When in the course of human relations, it become necessary to predicate the apposite, I am there! Dear me. I seem to have gotten a little bit off track. Where was I? Oh yes.

As you can see from the contents herein, I am nothing but the most opprobrius of individuals. I never speak of myself in the third person. I always own up to every mistake I have ever made, that little event spoofing Delirium’s AIM account notwithstanding. (Lefteh, did you really believe that was Delirium you were talking to?). Hmmm. I guess we can scratch that one off the list, since, technically, this counts as an owning-up. Still, that was off site, and no one else’s business.

As you can see, it is my duty in life to spend a long time saying pretty much nothing, but saying it very well. Or, perhaps, a little bit well? Ah, who am I kidding. I couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag. Even if I had a sharp pencil. Which I don’t. There’s just this keyboard. Where is my son when I need him? He has plenty of pencils, although, for some reason, none of them sport erasers.

Anyway, to conclude (and I’m sure you are all wondering, ‘when will this doofus ever get to the point—wonder no more—all is about to become clear), I would like to say that I answer every question that I answer in the form the question deserves. I can not be responsible for questions that are bent, folded, spindled, mutilated, or written in text-speak. My answers, since they are indubitably of the highest form of courtesy, meet the most stringent standards of seriousness on fluther. Can I help it if some people have no sense of humor, or are simply unable to understand that sometimes the words, as written, are not as the words are meant to be understood. There is a subtext to everything, but everyone knows that, don’t they? Could I possibly be any clearer?

I think not!

P.S. Delirium, thank you for asking what is possibly one of the greatest questions of all time!

@eponymoushipster – no kidding, why do you think I only mention your name at the beginning of a response! If you see me refer to you as E, don’t complain! ;~)

One thing I have always liked about Fluther is that for the most part the collective knows when a serious answer is called for and when a little snark works.

Wit and humor are interesting; I personally like them to be creative and original. Repetition can get very tiresome, for me at least.

@cak it’s all good.

I hate snark.

@AstroChuck: Lies.

I wonder why it’s the snarky answers that tend to get the lurve?

Land Snark, M’am.

Good Bob, it’s a public forum. The expectations shouldn’t be too high in the first place; we certainly know we’re lucky here. A little snarking keeps one humble, anyway, and I know how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

OK, except last week with that one troll, but HE WAS ASKING FOR IT!

@AstroChuck Delirium hums the theme from Jaws.

i think asking for no snark is like begging for snark. unless it’s a really serious, horrible situation, in which it’s pretty likely that the snarkiness will be on the down low at least for the most part. i think snark adds spice to questions. especially in ones where it’s a pretty unfun subject (unfun? really?)

everything in moderation.

I say – unless it’s a truly serious situation – once the Q has been properly answered let the good times roll. Snark is fine. Cruelty is not.

I just now had to pull back from becoming cruel. I think I managed to do it. I used to be unable to resist coming down hard on people who have so many misconceptions, you don’t know where to begin. Now I realize that’s not what I want to do. I don’t need to get into pissing matches. They just go round and round. Kind of like what trolls do.

I think there are different levels and types of snark.

Sorry, I am bereft of humor and snark this morning. My Dell will not boot :-(

@steelmarket You’ve got it all wrong. I’m a sneaker.

@delirium – Really? All this time and I thought you were a sandal.

@delirium – revelation! Is that a sneaky snarker or a snarky sneaker?

Maybe she sneakily snarks. Snark Ninjas can be deadly.

I miss delirium.

Ibstubro wonders why Delirium didn’t stick around for a bit after saying goodbye to Gail?