3mo ago

If you don't use /s when being sarcastic, I'm going to treat your comment as being earnest

Before downvoting, check the community.

If you fail to use the /s tag or specifically call out that your comment is sarcastic, I'm going to treat it as being earnest. I might ask if you're being sarcastic, but I will downvote as though you are being earnest.

The /s tag not only clarifies, but it also confirms that you're being sarcastic. A thing you cannot ordinarily convey via written text unless you specifically call it out. You can hint at it, readers can infer it, but you cannot convey it. To convey it, sans directly stating it, you would need to include a recording of you speaking the comment, which defeats the whole point of text chats.

"It definitely reads as sarcasm, you're just missing it" So what? I'm neurodivergent. I barely get this shit in its normal, spoken context. Why should I be expected to understand the implied sarcasm in your text comment?

"Telling someone you're being sarcastic ruins it" Unless your definition of sarcasm is just lying to someone's face, you do indicate sarcasm when speaking. Via the exaggerated, deadpan tone you use. Something you can't convey in written text unless you specifically call it out.

"I made it very clear via hyperbole that it was sarcasm" Have you talked to people? Your obvious, over-the-top, hyperbolic sarcasm could just be someone's opinion taken whole cloth. In fact, you probably modeled your exaggeration AFTER a person. Can you see why, if I don't know you, there's no way to tell?

"I forgot the tag" cool, if I see the edit adding it back in, I'll revert my downvote. Consider it the opportunity cost of forgetting.

"It doesn't hurt anyone" Yes, it does. You give credence to your exaggerated position that you would never take because the people who think like that exaggerated position will point to your comment as proof that they have support. It's why 4chan rebirthed nazism.

"I still won't do it". Then have fun with the downvote. You want to make the internet worse? I'll be sure that you don't get the internet points your brain craves.

51 comments

Definitely an unpopular opinion, but it's one that's catching on for sure. Great post, no sarcasm.

For the record, there is actually no necessarily discernable difference between sarcasm and lying to someone's face. People that are very sarcastic will often not adjust their delivery whatsoever. The whole point of sarcasm is to be somewhat plausible and convincing, after all.
The only real difference is in the motive to be humorous, which is just not necessarily discernable. This is why sarcasm is usually not used with complete strangers irl, since they won't know the person well enough to necessarily detect it, unless you grossly exaggerate it. Which is basically the same as an irl /s, where you deliver it in either an exaggerated deadpan or an almost singsong fashion to make it very blatant. Even in these cases, the person will often offer a polite apology for using sarcasm with a stranger, since it's kinda broadly felt that that's just not a great idea.
Ultimately sarcasm is predicated on the idea that people's casual words should not be trusted though, which is just generally good advice anyway. Trust systems, not people, unless you know them well. Words are simply too cheap, they're as often a toy as they are some serious information transfer mechanism.

I honestly didn't think this would be as unpopular as the responses make it seem. I used to be against using /s because "it makes it less fun" but way too many people get the wrong message. I decided to start using it because I want people to understand me correctly. It's that the point of communicating with people?
IRL I try to be more over the top, but even then (like OP and others pointed out) if the person doesn't know your baseline then they might think you are being serious. It has happened to me countless times.
- Completely disagree. Sarcasm is much funnier if you play it straight.
  
  I can agree with this statement for real life interactions, but online you can't pick up the nonverbal cues.

Unpopular opinion:
So you can downvote. It's OK. Downvotes are part of the communication. Downvotes don't kill anybody.
I am allowed not to give a damn whether you understand my texts or not, or whether you downvote or not.
I set the /s when I feel like it, not when you need it.
Even if you are mod - these higher beings who do not have to explain or justify their shortcomings - yes, many of them lack understanding in about the same manner as you do.
- Sounds good to me, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Just what I'm doing. And I'm not a mod. I don't have the patience to deal with people.

wowww good luck with that
- Seeiously, what a brilliant idea. Should go really well for OP.

For me /s has always meant that someone was being serious. /s
- Isn't that what /srs is for? /s was sarcasm before any other tonal indicators.
- Holy shit

Okay.

It really doesn't help that most people use /s not when they're being sarcastic but when they are mocking those with opposing views.
Unfortunately it's hard to employ such mockery in text as you just end up repeating the arguments you're trying to refute.

I’ve felt this on both sides. It’s no fun “giving up the joke” by tagging it, but the simple truth is sarcasm comes across poorly in text, especially when the audience is made up of strangers.
You almost always need to use the /s tag when using sarcasm in online discussions.
- My preferred way around this is to spoiler the tag, since there's a few other tags of this sort floating around: /j (joking), /hj (half-joking), /srs (serious) for a few examples. Doing that still gives you a moment of not giving up the joke, but it's still ultimately there for anyone that wants or needs it
- Two days ago I wrote an overly sarcastic comment but it was late at night and apparently I both made it sound too realistic and didn't put an /s - I didn't think anyone would think anyone could be that stupid.
  Turns out a lot of people assumed I seriously thought that my fictional dog's vets were more likely to suggest euthanasia if they are Asian because I believed they used the corpses for meat and handed me fake ashes. I'll definitely make sure to use /s in the future now. To both avoid looking like a racist conspiracy theorist and a dog owner.

Great idea.

I dont use it when I'm shitposting.
- Assuming we're talking as OP, I think the community covers the intent.
  
  I shitpost outside of shit posting communities in the comment section all the time
  Obviously we need to abandon our tools for fighting disease
  This is an example of I comment I made in some news forum about antivaxxers or something. People did not seem to miss the sarcastic nature of the comment.

You didn't know, but without your singular up vote the whole internet would have finally completed its evil plans and the entire world would have shattered and crumbled to dust.

One of those cases where the post deserves an upvote for being !c appropriate, but strictly speaking we are never going to see eye to eye. If my sarcasm doesn't land, I don't deserve the stupid little doots.

OP: *Posts an unpopular opinion on the unpopular community
Gets downvoted

Brilliant idea.

Must suck ass never being able to tell when someone is being sarcastic through context.

I didn't know one could be so based.

Upvoted because I disagree.
And since I disagree with your opinion, I will be appending /s to every single comment I write from now, including this one, just to spite you. Is this sarcasm or not? Who knows, that /s at the end means nothing now. Post-irony, here I come /s

But why does it deserve a downvote?
- *assuming the position would be a really shitty one, since it's sarcastic, downvote as though it's earnest.

Maybe don't take the internet or "upvotes/downvotes" so seriously. This whole screed comes across as rather silly. People have rendered voting on comments completely useless as they'll do it to completely noninflammattory, on-topic comments they simply don't like for reasons only clear to them. Additionally, the idea that anyone cares about a particular individuals criterion for voting on comments is a rather self-important view.

What a fucking psycho. /s

God I'd hate to have such poor reading comprehension. You'd last about a minute in UK based communities lol
- Hi, I'm neurodivergent. Reading comprehension ain't got anything to do with it.
  
  Me too and yes it does

Sounds like you're the one who misses out in this case? Lol

Kalama ate my dog it's true I saw it on the internet /s

Oh no a downvote, how will we ever live without your approval?
- Oh no! Using sarcasm to create a strawman out of what I'm saying? Whatever shall I do? I suppose I must die, now and forever. Bleh! /s
  Yeah, it's all the ammo I got, but it's better than endlessly arguing the need for the tag with an ever-changing cast of opposition. Cause that's exhausting
  
  Cool, so just shut up and do it?

Yes I always tell me I am being sarcastic in real life because that a normal thing to do
- In real life we have things like tones and inflections. On the Internet we have text and some emojis a lot of people are seemingly allergic to
- Apologies. To clarify rather than being emoji snarky, it's fine if you don't understand what I'm saying, but I'm specifically stating that in face-to-face interactions the intent would be for the person to know you're being sarcastic. It wouldn't need to be stated. That ability tends to be lost in text forums, especially with strangers, which is why the sarcasm tag exists. And thus why I shall give no further quarter on this.
- 🤡
  
  Exactly!

51 comments