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Ask HN: Please stop "This."

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Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#41

Post by mpd »

wickedchicken wrote: post #29
sp332 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're sorted by a weird combo of recentness, upvotes, and lack of downvotes. There's no way to tell if a 1-hour-old comment has more upvotes than a 30-second-old comment positioned above it on the page. There's no way to tell if a single comment in a subthread has 0 upvotes or 100. This is the biggest problem, IMHO. Factual statements have no visible score for correctness. There's no way to tell if a comment was up…

Why are you relying on a bunch of random people from the internet to vet factual accuracy? I'm cool with them finding me interesting things, but that's about all I'd trust them for. For example: I use yelp to see when stores are open/closed and if a coffee shop has wifi. I could care less about the reviews, unless one of them happens to position a specific deal I'd be interested in.

Others' opinions are a litmus test that saves me a lot of time in the long run. I simply don't have the bandwidth to go deep on everything that hits my radar.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#42

Post by georgemcbay »

ColinWright wrote: post #16

I like to upvote things that I think add value to HackerNews. However, since upvotes are no longer displayed, it's impossible for my agreement or endorsement to have any visible manifestation unless I add a comment. I'd be tempted to use this emerging new idiom, except I think it looks and sounds stupid. However, pretty much all dialectic and idiomatic shifts look stupid to those entrenched in the existing "standards…

This. A thousand times this.

Bring back some form of positive vote indicators.

They don't need to be exact, they just need to properly indicate that "this" post is being recognized without us having to post a "this" post.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#44

Post by dpcan »

I hate it when people say "and what not". Oh, and "cool beans" makes me cringe.

I'm just saying, this is something that really shouldn't be bothering you. It's a convention of online conversation. It means that someone thinks you've hit the nail on the head with your point.

Example:

This. And now I'm going to say why I think your idea is cool beans and what not.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#45

Post by TillE »

Can we also stop "fail" as a one-word sentence? I'd appreciate it.

I've stopped participating in any site where the usage of internet memes is anything above negligible. Reading that crap actually makes me feel stupider.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#46

Post by MartinCron »

I wonder if this is a generational divide, I assume that it's something that gets under my skin because I'm an old guy (35! Gasp!) and I frown on people using my language in a way that diverges from how I've always used it.

It feels like a sort of Internet-speak affectation (something I know a thing or two about) that wouldn't show up in spoken language or other forms of written language. I can see how that would bug people.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#47

Post by TillE »

rubikscube wrote: post #27

It's better to use grammatically correct and conventionally accepted statements. Beginning a response with "I agree" or "Good point" reads pleasantly, without the nails-on-chalkboard effect of the internet-nerd-herd-mind irritating-and-head-scratching-to-regular-people nerd-convention of "This". Stupid nerds. They seem to like to demonstrate how "non-conforming" they are, but reading sites like this, or worse, reddit…

Well put. (See? Another variation that doesn't make you sound like a boring idiot.)

The internet wasn't so meme-infested ten years ago (except for silly videos), even five years ago. I really think Reddit is to blame.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#48

Post by wickedchicken »

mpd wrote: post #41
wickedchicken wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you relying on a bunch of random people from the internet to vet factual accuracy? I'm cool with them finding me interesting things, but that's about all I'd trust them for. For example: I use yelp to see when stores are open/closed and if a coffee shop has wifi. I could care less about the reviews, unless one of them happens to position a specific deal I'd be interested in.

Others' opinions are a litmus test that saves me a lot of time in the long run. I simply don't have the bandwidth to go deep on everything that hits my radar.

Which is why an 'ambiguous' vote is a good system. It provides you just the right amount of information: "a lot of people think this is worth your time to investigate." Nothing more, nothing less.

Re: Ask HN: Please stop "This."

#49

Post by mindcrime »

MartinCron wrote: post #46

I wonder if this is a generational divide, I assume that it's something that gets under my skin because I'm an old guy (35! Gasp!) and I frown on people using my language in a way that diverges from how I've always used it. It feels like a sort of Internet-speak affectation (something I know a thing or two about) that wouldn't show up in spoken language or other forms of written language. I can see how that would bug…

I wonder if this is a generational divide, I assume that it's something that gets under my skin because I'm an old guy (35! Gasp!)

I doubt age has anything to do with it. I'm 38, but I don't dislike the "this" thing much at all. In fact, I do it myself sometimes.

and I frown on people using my language in a way that diverges from how I've always used it.

See, I'm the kind of person who likes doing things differently, just to irk people like you. I don't see much value in blind adherence to tradition for tradition's sake. I like killing sacred cows, stirring the pot, ruffling feathers, and reminding people that "We've always done it this way" is not a valid justification (in and of itself) for doing things a certain way.

Then again, I'm a radically individualistic anarcho-capitalist / libertarian / atheist type, so I'm just a touch outside of what you might call mainstream...

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