Are Posts With Practical Jokes Ban-Worthy?

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1

In this, the OP asks about the value of some antique toy that he found. Complete with pictures.

I was going to respond, jokingly, that it was a rare & elusive toy that my mother had when she was a lass, and that she recently sold it to an antique dealer for $1,000. Then I was going to skip down a few lines and say I was just kidding.

But then I thought better of it, since GQ is where the Fight Against Ignorance™ takes on almost religious significance. I don’t want to be piled on, chasitsed by a moderator, or even worse, banned :eek: .

So anyway, would that type of “joke” post in GQ have brough about a smackdown?

2

It kind of depends on the nature of the joke and the situation. It also depends on whether the joke is clearly a joke, or can be misinterpreted as serious. Two obvious examples:

  • Jokes that hurt someone’s feelings (like, if someone in MPSIMS is crying about a romance break-up, then a completely insensitive insulting sarcastic joke would probably not be well-received.)
  • Jokes that could lead to awkward results (like, if someone asks how to clean bacon grease out of a frying pan, the sarcastic answer “light it afire and put it under a chair” would probably not be appreciated.)

Your idea of causing excitement by a false valuation of an item would probably not go over well, and could violate both hurting someone feelings and leading to awkward consequences.

Overview: we are not without a sense a humour, but we recognize that there is a time and place.

3

This would probably also be a good place to mention the ban that’s been placed on intentionally linking people to pages with infinite pop-ups that crash IE, or those pages where you have to “look for the hidden face” and the screen changes to a freaky looking bald screaming kid for a frame or two.

4

After reviewing the post you linked to, any practical joke you had planned would have been worth it. :eek: :dubious: :smiley:

5

Basic Principle: If in doubt, email a moderator for a ruling. It may take a bit – there may need to be some discussion amongst the moderators – but you’ll be on the safe side of the line.

Of course, that’s a problem for any jokes that will lose their humor if they’re not posted for two-days, but then, if you’re really in doubt, you probably shouldn’t do it anyhow. < grin >