whenever i make a comment or message with an “/s”, there’s always some rando who gets mad at me.
so for a while, i decided to be extra obvious with my sarcasm by writing in an exaggerated format.
examples:
“that’s SOOOOOO cool, dude.” (notice the period at the end)
“girls poop????????”
the “problem” is, i’ll have randos correcting me or thinking that i’m serious. granted, i’ve come to laugh at people who don’t get the joke. on the other hand, someone will explain something thinking im serious and im left rolling my eyes.
this topic is very important, i know. we must accept “/s” as a necessary evil.
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A lot people seem to actually still miss the “/s” completely.
I just let people think I’m serious. That’s even funnier than a dumb sarcastic comment anyway.
It’s even more fun being sarcastic and not using it.
I noticed a huge number of people are literally too stupid or illiterate to understand ridiculously obvious sarcasm, so they take it seriously and get mad.
But if you would’ve put an /s there, they STILL WOULD BE MAD because it “ruined the joke” and made it “not funny anymore”.
I feel like people having poor digital literacy is a very very bad thing, especially in the near-term future.
tHiS tOpIc Is VeRy ImPoRtAnT, i KnOw. wE mUsT aCcEpT “/s” aS a NeCeSsArY eViL.
Seems /s isn’t necessary after all
Having to include the /s is just as hit humour and sarcasm. If people don’t get it, great.
i agree with you. the issue is that other redditors can see only your words, not the emotions, intentions, and thoughts behind them, which are normally communicated through body language and voice tone, which are absent in a block of text.
The real answer is that sarcasm should be in italics.
Dammed if you do, damned if you don’t.
Slightly in relation to this, I think it’s a necessary evil to also, when asking a question in the comments, clarify that you’re asking genuinely, or out of curiosity, because people seem to interpret innocent questions as more of a hostile challenge lol
Many of the best jokes are delivered deadpan so the “you can’t read someones tone on the internet” is rubbish.
/s is bullshit.
Facts
/s makes it unfunny
I only use it where if what I said taken seriously would get me into serious trouble
>that’s SOOOOOO cool, dude.” (notice the period at the end)
The “SOOOOOO” part makes it obvious that it’s sarcasm; the period at the end does not because that’s just proper sentence structure.
I would never assume sarcasm was intended just because someone put a period at the end of a sentence – where it belongs. 🤷♀️
The entire point of sarcasm is to make some people not understand it.
To me, I think the “/s” is the internet equivalent of giving a little wink after you said something sarcastic. Sometimes, you want to let people know that you were being sarcastic. Sometimes you don’t. When you do, you wink. When you don’t, you stay deadpan.
I think using “/s” completely depends on the context.
Does each side of every controversial opinion really need its own thread? Couldn’t you just go into the thread you disagree with and reply?
I feel like the people who get mad at tone indicators like this always take it like a slight towards their intelligence
Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don’t. It’s not really my responsibility to make sure random people on the internet interpret my comments the way I intended them to.
If someone chooses not to use tone indicators themselves and accepts whatever misunderstandings come their way, then whatever.
If someone gets upset about others using tone indicators. Grow the fuck up.
I don’t think this is unpopular. Purely text-based communication lacks critical information like body language and tone of voice—it is impossible to tell if someone if being serious or sarcastic in lieu of the “/s” (or some other means of cluing people in.) I have seen people belittle others for their use of “/s,” but not often.
When you have people as stupid as chronic Redditors… Yeah it really is necessary unfortunately.
I didn’t know what “/s” meant until a few months ago. I use sarcasm often. If you can’t tell I’m being sarcastic, that’s on you. Tone is impossible to convey through text alone, people are going to interpret things the way they want to. I can’t be bothered to care enough to explain to randos on the Internet. Let them think what they want.
I tend to find no matter how rediculous a comment/belief could be, there is someone who could make said comment in all seriousness making it hard to tell if someone is being sarcastic. E.g. Viruses aren’t real, Earth is flat, gravity isn’t real, vaccines are poison etc.
No it’s not, everyone on Reddit is really smart and can easily understand sarcasm without it /s
I find usually the people who don’t pick up on the sarcasm have no idea what /s means anyway. So they’re just doubly oblivious.
Rolling your eyes is definitely the worst thing that could ever happen. You’ve convinced me. I must avoid it at all costs.
There’s been a recent trend (fuckin TikTok) where people have convinced themselves that “/s” means “serious” and we’re supposed to use “/sarc” for sarcastic. Like, no. We have “/ser” for serious and moreover you really shouldn’t have to indicate that?? Especially on Reddit of all places where long form discussion is encouraged?? God, it makes me so irrationally angry, my heart rate is literally elevated while thinking about it rn. Anyways 10/10 opinion OP, hard agree and “necessary evil” is the perfect way to describe it. /ser, in case you couldn’t tell 😉
what is /s?
If I see that shit I instantly lose respect for the person using it and add a TOOL tag for them in RES so I’ll always know they’re insufferable. God I hate /s
I like tone indicators because they help me sometimes! I don’t always use them, and while I appreciate other people using them for ambiguous statements, it doesn’t bother me if someone chooses not to. What infuriates me is when people get annoyed about other people using tone indicators or when people use tone indicators as a joke.
i use it only when the sarcasm isn’t easily recognizable, in the other cases it ruins the effect
No, “/s” takes away the whole fucking point with sarcasm.
Specifying and clarifications online are pretty important. Tone of text can be hard to interpret correctly, and clarifying information helps prevent misunderstandings or misinformation
My opinion is that the “/s” is like these patterned tiles at busstops for the blind or ramps next to stairs for people in wheelchairs. 90%of the population don’t need that but it’s there for the few that do. There are enough neurodivergent people that have a hard time picking up on sarcasm irl, in text form it’s completely impossible. So please, everyone, try to always include the “/s” to help those that need it, and if you don’t. It’s two characters, how hard is it to overlook?