Posts & the signing thereof

[Lobohan]

People. Seriously, look at me.

<points at eyes>

You don't have to sign your posts.

Really. You really don't. Your name is clearly posted by the nice people that coded the board software. We know who you are. I understand that many on this board don't frequent other boards... and that by it's very nature as a paid board we're selecting for a more educated, stable type of poster. In particular the kind that can with wild abandon toss a handful of fliff at unca ceic for the privilege of posting here. And perhaps in some cases, the kind who would never post on a message board otherwise. It's okay, you're new to this. But stop it.

It's silly to sign your posts.













Really.

[ParentalAdvisory]

Agreed.


Cheers,
PA

[Roland Orzabal]

..

[Red Barchetta]

Agreed as well. It seems pretentious to add your name, again, after the fact.

[Cyberhwk]

I remember when my dad was getting used to IMing. We'd sit there and have a conversation for about 20 minutes and he'd always end it just like a letter...

Love,

Dad

[Liberal]

I've actually run into a problem with that before. Left Hand of Dorkness signs his posts "Daniel". From the time he joined the board, I used his signatory name when addressing or referencing him since, it seemed to me, that by signing his posts with it, it was the name he preferred. Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him "Daniel". Despite the unfortunate timing (I was dealing with enough already, thank you), I've honored his wishes ever since. And now every time I type out his rather long name, I do so with a shrug and a sigh.

[don't ask]

And apart from that sig lines are an abomination. I turned them off when I realised that they were colouring my impression of the poster - "wanker", "poseur", "intellectual wannabe", "only half as clever as you think", "fascist" etc

[Red Barchetta]

Originally Posted by don't ask

And apart from that sig lines are an abomination. I turned them off when I realised that they were colouring my impression of the poster - "wanker", "poseur", "intellectual wannabe", "only half as clever as you think", "fascist" etc

Don't even get me started on sigs; I turned that shit off the very second I found the option. Although I have been thrown for a loop a time or two when a poster refers to something I can't see, but that is very rare.

[Liberal]

I'm "No Sigs" too. The PTB used to make people limit them to one showing per thread (or page or something — I can't remember).

[ParentalAdvisory]

Originally Posted by Liberal

Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him "Daniel".

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...1&postcount=29



Even though you've come to grips not to call him Daniel, if he continues to sign his posts with "Daniel", I don't see a problem what so ever with anyone calling him just that. If he doesn't like it, he can sign with "Left Hand of Dorkness". What a concept that would be.

[ivylass]

Well, I like my sig, so there.

Cheers,

ivylass

[Shodan]

Bite me.

Regards,
Shodan

[olivesmarch4th]

Shodan makes a good point. The fact that he always signs his posts the same way makes him memorable to me. I don't think I often sign posts here, unless I'm the OP, and that's to use my actual name, to add some humanity to what would otherwise just be a jumble of words. I don't think it's necessary to sign posts, but it's just one of those human quirks that adds some individuality to the poster.

Olives,
Christy

[Green Bean]

Yes. Please stop signing your posts!

I don't necessarily mind the "regards, Shodan" thing so much because it's clearly a sign-off. But it does irk me when people just type their username at the bottom. It can be really confusing. Like this one poster, Sailboat...I'll be reading his post, and it will say "Sailboat" at the end...and I'll sit there wondering what the heck a sailboat has to do with anything. It's confusing and annoying.

[twickster]

I do it occasionally, when there's some "qualification" or relevant aside to my post -- like in AA-related threads, I'll sign off "twicks, sober 21 years," or in threads about academia, I'll sign off "twicks, PhD."

twicks, who has also turned off sigs

[TheLoadedDog]

I don't mind sigs within reason. Y'all should consider yourself lucky IMAGE-BASED sigs aren't allowed here.

Just don't sign off with "Cheers", or then I shall have to kill you.

Cheers,
TLD

[What Exit?]

My Og, no one has ever brought this up before. What an original thread.

Your right, it is a terrible habit to sign off on a form of communication. No reasonable person would do this, especially for us posters whose sign-offs match our user name. Oh wait, mine does not.

Jim (Besides, where else would I include my silly little asides that have often nothing to do with the rest of my post)

[WhyNot]

Originally Posted by twickster

I do it occasionally, when there's some "qualification" or relevant aside to my post -- like in AA-related threads, I'll sign off "twicks, sober 21 years," or in threads about academia, I'll sign off "twicks, PhD."

twicks, who has also turned off sigs

Exactly. This is how I (occasionally) use signing off as well. Sometimes it's just a nice punchy ending to a post that reads better with some "oomph" at the end.

WhyNot,
who thinks twickster rocks

[wring]

On occaision, I find it helpful - when it's a long post, then I don't have to scroll back up to find out who posted it.

I confess that I don't get the signing real name when your user id is different, but it doesn't bug me enough to make me ask why.

I have routinely kept sig lines turned off, and have never turned it back on again, even when folks post 'finally, a perfect opportunity to use my sig line'.

Oddly I don't mind the sign offs like a letter ('regards, Shodan' is the most obvious in my eyes- though in his case, the juxtiposition between the 'bite me' type of thing and 'regards' is amusing. Not in a belly busting way, but, still).

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by Liberal

And now every time I type out his rather long name, I do so with a shrug and a sigh.

Maybe use LHoD? Thirty five percent fewer letters than Daniel!

Respectfully suggested this seventeenth day of November,
vetbridge

[koeeoaddi]

Originally Posted by Shodan

Bite me.

Regards,
Shodan

...and when may we expect Steven to wish us joy?











ko
(just making it easier)

[What Exit?]

Let me ask the Op a question.

Do you also not sign your Emails as the software conveniently includes your name up in the header?

Jim

[Savannah]

I'm in the general "no need to sign your posts, your username's right there" camp, but for a few exceptions. One of them is

love,
yams!!!

That just makes me smile. It's so cheerful.

(Actually, I can't recall if it's 'love' that's used. But I like it.)

[Cluricaun]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Let me ask the Op a question.

Do you also not sign your Emails as the software conveniently includes your name up in the header?

Jim

Just for the record, I've referred to you as Jim before in the past because of the way you sign your posts, but after reading Lib's post upthread about LHOD I apolgize if I shouldn't do that. Just to be on the level and checking preferances is all.

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Let me ask the Op a question.

Do you also not sign your Emails as the software conveniently includes your name up in the header?

Jim

Dearest What Exit,
Your thoughtful words have missed a simple, yet exciting fact. This is not an email. Do you say, "Regards, Jim" at the end of phone calls? When you IM do you type in your contact info, phone and fax numbers at the end of the message?

OMG we have different rules based on the sort of communication we're using!!!
The email version of my name may be small, buried in a lump of formatting text, or may simply show my e-mail address, whereas I may want the people I'm contacting to know my actual name. Emails are generally used for personal or business reasons, and for those reasons I want my full contact info very available.

This however is a message board which displays my name in glorious blue type for all to see. Perhaps you can study up on the differences in the various forms of communications we as 21st century intarwebby types use, and then rejoin the conversation where you're up to speed.

Your humble servant,

Lobohan






Also it comes across as smug and arrogant.

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by Shodan

Bite me.

Regards,
Shodan

Please do present scotum! Kthxbye!

[SpazCat]

Originally Posted by Liberal

I'm "No Sigs" too. The PTB used to make people limit them to one showing per thread (or page or something — I can't remember).

I only show mine once per thread. Any more than that'll cost you. And it ain't cheap.

Signed,
Your Humble Servant,

Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fana Bobesca IV

[ZipperJJ]

On the show Big Love, there is this crazy third-tier character who is the leader of one of those creepy polygamy sects in Utah. He's an old man (not Harry Dean Stanton) and he's big on using video calls and/or phone calls.

When he's ready to end the call he says "Very truly yours, Hollis Green" just like he's ending a letter or something, even if he's right there on the video screen.

Whenever I see people sign posts now, I think of that creepy old polygamist man.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Liberal

I've actually run into a problem with that before. Left Hand of Dorkness signs his posts "Daniel". From the time he joined the board, I used his signatory name when addressing or referencing him since, it seemed to me, that by signing his posts with it, it was the name he preferred. Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him "Daniel". Despite the unfortunate timing (I was dealing with enough already, thank you), I've honored his wishes ever since. And now every time I type out his rather long name, I do so with a shrug and a sigh.

I never thought that LHoD had a long name.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by Cluricaun

Just for the record, I've referred to you as Jim before in the past because of the way you sign your posts, but after reading Lib's post upthread about LHOD I apolgize if I shouldn't do that. Just to be on the level and checking preferances is all.

Actually the point of my signing off as "Jim" as much as it is habit is so people can refer to me by name. So please feel free to use my user name or Jim. When coming up with my user name, I mentioned I wanted it to have Jim in it and several other users with Jim in their names suggested this was a bad idea as it already gets confusing.

Originally Posted by SpazCat

I only show mine once per thread. Any more than that'll cost you. And it ain't cheap.

Signed,
Your Humble Servant,

Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fana Bobesca IV

May I call you Dot?

Originally Posted by Lobohan

Dearest What Exit,
Your thoughtful words have missed a simple, yet exciting fact. This is not an email. Do you say, "Regards, Jim" at the end of phone calls? When you IM do you type in your contact info, phone and fax numbers at the end of the message?

OMG we have different rules based on the sort of communication we're using!!!
The email version of my name may be small, buried in a lump of formatting text, or may simply show my e-mail address, whereas I may want the people I'm contacting to know my actual name. Emails are generally used for personal or business reasons, and for those reasons I want my full contact info very available.

This however is a message board which displays my name in glorious blue type for all to see. Perhaps you can study up on the differences in the various forms of communications we as 21st century intarwebby types use, and then rejoin the conversation where you're up to speed.

Your humble servant,

Lobohan

Also it comes across as smug and arrogant.

Well Okay, but why does it upset you? I can't see why you are getting worked up over this.

Why on earth is a simple "Jim" arrogant? It's my name and it's not in my user-name.

Jim

[Wallenstein]

I like Tripler's sign-offs... dunno why, they just seem to round of the posts nicely.

[El Cid Viscoso]

Originally Posted by Liberal

I've actually run into a problem with that before. Left Hand of Dorkness signs his posts "Daniel". From the time he joined the board, I used his signatory name when addressing or referencing him since, it seemed to me, that by signing his posts with it, it was the name he preferred. Suddenly, he announced to me one day (in the context of a general pile-on) that he would prefer that I not call him "Daniel".

Yeah, I remember that bizarre exchange. It went something like this:

Liberal,

Please don't call me Daniel.

Daniel

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by El Cid Viscoso

Yeah, I remember that bizarre exchange. It went something like this:

Liberal,

Please don't call me Daniel.

Daniel

Really? Now that seems retarded. I assumed if someone signs their name that is an open invitation to use it. Was it specifically Liberal he did not want to use it or all posters?


The space above left blank for the Op.

[Sapo]

Now I want to change my username to "and I am right, so shut up". That way people won't now if I am signing or telling them off.

[Sarahfeena]

Originally Posted by Cluricaun

Just for the record, I've referred to you as Jim before in the past because of the way you sign your posts, but after reading Lib's post upthread about LHOD I apolgize if I shouldn't do that. Just to be on the level and checking preferances is all.

I think you were perfectly in the right to do that (etiquette-wise), despite what Left Hand of Dorkness said to Liberal. If a person signs with their real name, I would thing that it's an invitation to refer to them that way. It's like signing a letter...you use the name you would expect the recipient to call you by.

[Hockey Monkey]

Am I the only person so far to catch the glaring flaw in the OP? He links to the It's, its, it's thread using the wrong it's. (It should be its.)



I am aware of the law that states there will be a grammatical error in this post,

Hockey Monkey

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Sarahfeena

I think you were perfectly in the right to do that (etiquette-wise), despite what Left Hand of Dorkness said to Liberal. If a person signs with their real name, I would thing that it's an invitation to refer to them that way. It's like signing a letter...you use the name you would expect the recipient to call you by.

Me, too. But if that person really gets upset about it, maybe he'll stop signing his friggin' posts in the first place!

[Martian Bigfoot]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

It's my name and it's not in my user-name.

This is the part that seems bizarre to me. It just seems like a split personality disorder. Dude, on the interwebs, your username is your name. It's what people will think of you as and refer to you as. If you sign with a different name than your username, I don't even know who the heck you are anymore. If you want to be know by a different name than your username, just change your username already. If you want your username and your real life name to be identical, the option is obviously there for you. It's like if IRL my name was "Joe Bloggs", but I insisted on signing all my correspondence with "Buzz Aldrin". Mucho confusing.

But then again, what do I know.

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by Hockey Monkey

Am I the only person so far to catch the glaring flaw in the OP? He links to the It's, its, it's thread using the wrong it's. (It should be its.)



I am aware of the law that states there will be a grammatical error in this post,

Hockey Monkey

That's why I linked it! Why would I link to a thread about the incorrect use of its and it's (which is completely unrelated to my current post) by spelling it correctly!!!

It's a joke!!!1one

Aaarrgh!

Your's truly,

Zanzibar Otis

[LilShieste]

I'm going to keep signing my posts with my username, until I reach 1,000 posts.

After that, I'll just have to find some other way to work my arrogance, smugness, and general pretention into my posts.


LilShieste

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by LilShieste

I'm going to keep signing my posts with my username, until I reach 1,000 posts.

After that, I'll just have to find some other way to work my arrogance, smugness, and general pretention into my posts.


LilShieste

I'm not saying it is smug, I'm just saying it seems smug. I'm sure you're a peach in actuality.

Lobohan

[Red Barchetta]

Oh another reason why I hate these stupid "sign-offs" is that they eat up valuable screen real-estate. They often take up 3 or more lines, and even more when combined with the stupid sign-offs of others. I like being able to do other things without having to scroll every few seconds, and this attention whoring behavior doesn't help maters.

Why can't you all just add your sign-offs to your signature, that way people have the option of not being exposed to their silliness?

[descamisado]

Originally Posted by Green Bean

Yes. Please stop signing your posts!

I don't necessarily mind the "regards, Shodan" thing so much because it's clearly a sign-off. But it does irk me when people just type their username at the bottom. It can be really confusing. Like this one poster, Sailboat...I'll be reading his post, and it will say "Sailboat" at the end...and I'll sit there wondering what the heck a sailboat has to do with anything. It's confusing and annoying.

Actually, Shodan's disconcerting "Regards," sig is why I clicked into this thread.

Besides being annoying in general, sometimes the "Regards" doesn't fit the jist of what he has just written, coming off as snarky or condescending, whether that's what he intended or not.

What twickster does is occasional, specific to ther response and is, therefore, okay.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by Peak Banana

This is the part that seems bizarre to me. It just seems like a split personality disorder. Dude, on the interwebs, your username is your name. It's what people will think of you as and refer to you as. If you sign with a different name than your username, I don't even know who the heck you are anymore. If you want to be know by a different name than your username, just change your username already. If you want your username and your real life name to be identical, the option is obviously there for you. It's like if IRL my name was "Joe Bloggs", but I insisted on signing all my correspondence with "Buzz Aldrin". Mucho confusing.

But then again, what do I know.

Maybe, maybe this is because I am a late comer to message boards. Also I have met quite a few dopers off the boards now and I would rather they know me as Jim then "What Exit?". In fact it gets confusing with a few posters to ensure I refer to them by their user name as they don't generally invite the use of their real name.

I still don't understand the "smug" or "arrogant" part. That throws me for a loop. I could see if I signed as Jim "Super Genius" or Jim "Awesome Dude", but just plain Jim? Where's the smug in that?

Jim

[Mtgman]

My sign off is a double entendre. One of my big weakenesses is double entendres. A couple people have picked up on it over the years, and commented. More may have picked up on it and just commented, I don't know.

Enjoy,
Steven

[Triskadecamus]

I sign my posts.

I don't do it to piss anyone off. However, if it pisses you off, uh, kiss my ass. You got a real bleak view of life if that sort of minutia has gas for you.

I turn off sigs. Mostly because nothing anyone ever said needs to be repeated every time they speak.

I use hand made sigs, and you can't turn those off. If that pisses you off, see above sentiment.

Tris
--------------------------------
"A nihilist? That must be exhausting! " ~ Lebowski ~

[Red Barchetta]

Originally Posted by Mtgman

My sign off is a double entendre. One of my big weakenesses is double entendres. A couple people have picked up on it over the years, and commented. More may have picked up on it and just commented, I don't know.

Enjoy,
Steven

And this is worth exposing everyone to it for perpetuality because?

[Red Barchetta]

Originally Posted by Triskadecamus

I use hand made sigs, and you can't turn those off. If that pisses you off, see above sentiment.

Hence the "smug" and "arrogant" comments of former.

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by Red Barchetta

Hence the "smug" and "arrogant" comments of former.

Awwww Snap!

[descamisado]

Originally Posted by Peak Banana

. . .

Peak, in this case I'm gonna need a sig/signoff, so as not to have to scroll back up to prevent confusing you with Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fana Bobesca IV.

Really,