When posting, how much do you feel the need to provide context vs. just expect other Dopers to know stuff?
Or, to ask it another way: does it grind you when a Doper seems to be regularly “name dropping” or referencing things you think should be assumed as known?
My example - sometimes when I post trivia in music threads, it is because I have read it on line or in books, but sometimes I have heard it from some of my friends in the business. In particular (and for those of you who have read my posts in music threads, I can just imagine you saying “oh no - here it comes”) the drummer in my mid-life crisis band is a record producer who has worked with some well-known artists.
So my question is: when I preface a post by saying “well, I have a friend who has first-hand knowledge about yada yada yada…” am I being helpful by making it clear that this isn’t just rumor-mongering gossip, or do I sound like I’m trying to come across all cool and connected?
Should I expect that by now, most Dopers who end up in a music thread know a little about me as a fellow Doper, or should I treat a post more like other folks reading it know very little? How do you approach that when you post?
Well, I’m not sure if this is what you’re after but, I think there’s a bit too much of it over in Cafe Society: tiresome use of acronyms to reference pop culture titles. I don’t get 99% of it.
“Who’s up for a discussion of HTHG?”
"I loved it! It reminded me a lot of MGJJ:KLM "
“I didn’t think it was near as good as JMFSS-2”
“But that sequel starred MSM before she had her breakthrough sci-fi role in T3MAL.”
Another thing that’s a related Pet Peeve is “What do you guys think about this?” Where the “this” is a link somewhere. :rolleyes: Why not cut and paste a paragraph or two from your link, OK?
In the OP’s case, yes, provide context. Hell, make it your sig.
Your example could be seen as making a claim from authority which in a debate would get questioned,but many adults in daily life probably have some expertise which qualifies making the statement.
Probably not a good idea to assume even Dopers know “stuff”,and context is part of defining your conveyed perception.
People will take your (ones) post anyway they like.Personally,you come across as someone with a passion who is inclusive and infectious.“All you need is Love”.Heh.
So,you’re easy to read,and you have been helpful,to me.
Carson O’Genic - thanks; that gives me insight with my specific issue.
**drpepper ** and **blondebear ** - I agree; I think of that as the “14 k in a …” issue, based on that one thread where NO ONE knew how to translate that abbreviation and yeah, it drives me nuts. As a rule, I always make sure I spell something out once in my thread before I use an abbreviation…
I see lots of threads where posters implicitly or explictly expect other people to know who they are, where they are, or how they think. Here’s news for them: I may recognize your name, but that’s it. I got no clue about the rest of you, and you invite misunderstandings by wrongly assuming I do.
I assume 100% of the people reading what I write have never read anything else I’ve posted and know absolutely nothing about me, my expertises, biases, location, experiences, etc.
Having said that, I offer my context with a pretty flat affect. e.g.
"I used to do X and Y …
In my experience you should …"
I wonder how much of your concern has to do with context as in people you know, versus context as in things you’ve done. People are funny about social vs. practical accomplishments.
Can I piggy-back a mini-rant on context here? This has come up several times this week, so I don’t need to point anyone out in particular.
Please, for the love of my sanity and the job security of other dopers, let us know when your link goes to a video - especially if that video begins downloading/streaming and/or playing as soon as you click on the link!
Me? My computer sucks, so videos lock the system up for a while, especially if certain downloading activities are talking place at the same time. And if I’m on the phone (VoIP) and I click on your link, suddenly I’m not on the phone any longer (or at least not with any recognizable sound quality.)
Other dopers may, indeed, be surfing from work. We can argue some other time about whether or not they SHOULD be doing that, but since we’ve already enacted a “2-click” and a “label your NSFW” link policy, and an unofficial “label your PDF links” custom, I’m entreating everyone to consider at least an unofficial “label your video links” custom as well.
A sympathetic thumbs-down to posts which only have links, without descriptions. I don’t click on those links, and either ignore the thread or, if I’m bored, scroll down a bit to see others’ reactions before even thinking about clicking through. A synopsis or partial quote or something is much, much better.
And even though I’ve been reading the boards for a long time, I still don’t know anything about the vast majority of people here. There are simply too many people posting for that. So, assuming I’m not along in this, I don’t assume anyone knows who the hell I am before I post, and try to make each post make sense on its own.
No, don’t make it your sig – I, for one, wish our sig-using overlords would… no wait, that’s not right. I don’t care for sigs, and I have them turned off.
I think you should go ahead and provide the info, because a) not everyone has been reading the Boards forever, and b) even those of us who spend way too much time here aren’t necessarily looking at posters’ names as we’re reading a thread. I tend to read posts, and occasionally glance back to see who said what, in content-oriented threads (GQ, Cafe Society, etc.), though in the Pit I’ll pay somewhat more attention to posters’ names as I watch a fight break out.
Anyway, what I do is add an ad-hoc sig where it seems relevant (“twicks, sober 22 years” in an AA thread, or “twicks, PhD” in a thread about academia) – or, if my expertise is the premise for the thread, I’ll state it in my first sentence (“I spent 14 years in the puzzle biz, and …”)
And, yeah, cut it the fuck out with the abbrs. in the thread titles in Cafe Society.
