Mindless bickering happens regardless. Quote-parsing can be annoying but it’s not the parsing that’s annoying. It’s the way some people use it that gets grating.
There are good reasons around here to be precise and address posts point by point. That’s how debate works, and it makes for less confusion than trying to address everything all at once at the end of the post. That would be messy, and unaesthetic and difficult to follow. This isn’t some cat board. Those people at the other board sound like a bunch of vaginas.
They are. It’s why I migrated over here. I still lurk there occasionally but I find myself spending a larger and larger percentage of my time here instead. Plus the community here is way larger. And both forums are allowed by my aggressive work filter, believe it or not.
Like I said, I was willing to accept that others would see quote-snip… parsing as an acceptable thing. I appreciate hearing reasons to use the style.
The XKCD boards are much more discussion than debate (mostly). You’re talking about a legitimate use of precision
I think there is a difference between that and what the OP is complaining of (ironic, in a way, because some boards don’t even have a Pit-like outlet). Somewhat distinct from what you were referring to, some of the more shrill posters have a habit of going line-by-line in an attempt to amplify their insults–though in the OP’s (and other’s) minds it merely enhances their innate shrillocity.
Well, if it’s done in a dickish way, it’s done in a dickish way, but people can be dickish without doing that, and I’ve mostly seen the parsing done (here and elsewhere), not to be dickish, but for clarity of discussion and debate.
I used to quote snipe (as the OP would have it) but I have largely stopped because I found it ineffective against the very type of poster whose posts you might think it should work upon.
There is a certain sort of poster (I’m not going to name names) whose posts have a certain overall eloquence and internal consistency and logic but which reach wrong conclusions because every single clause and sentence is subtlely wrong. Their posts are kind of like a millepede standing on a thousand legs, all illusory - they have a certain superficial look of stability about them. You feel like just pointing out that their millipede is going to fall isn’t going to work because they are going to point to all the legs it’s standing on. So you feel like you need to point out, one by one, that every single leg is illusory.
However, I find it doesn’t work. It just ends up in confusion. The very sort of poster who posts like this seems in my experience not to be the type of poster who can keep a useful debate going involving a thousand legs at once. Whether due to lack of intellectual integrity or lack of intellectual ability is hard to say and anyway no doubt varies. The end result is rarely satisfactory. You have to find a way to summarise.
Lets face it, post sniping is only done if you are an anal retard with little else in your life to get excited about.
It would be far better to consider responses, cut out all the fluff and reply more directly to the important parts of any post.
Of course, for certain mouthpieces that would be no fun whatsoever. Far better to write hundreds of redundant words replying to each and every word written in each and every thread.
Pro-tip. If there are the same number of quotes in a reply as there are actual lines of reply, then its not a reply, its just slabbering.
Don’t see what’s wrong with point-by-point rebuttal of an error-ridden post. I admire SFG’s ability to particularize and to point out the errors carefully. She seems spectacularly well-organized and clear to me for it, much better than the general “I disagree with your entire post” style that careless posters often indulge in. Talk about boring and pointless!
I would prefer to not see anyone using vowels. Please see to it immediately.
<BOOM!> Headshot!
What?
m, y’r sppsd t sht th mssg, nt th mssngr, dd!
Y’know, rachel. Just as Southerners don’t much appreciate Northerners moving down South then imperiously stating “That’s not how we do things up North,” Dopers probably don’t much like that either. Just sayin’. You might make more friends here if you held off your criticisms until you get to know us better. Then go ahead.
And wtf does “foe” refer to?
And This. Is. Annoying.
I guess different boards tolerate different things differently.
Are you kidding me? People do that all the fucking time here.
I mostly agree with the OP here. While it occasionally has it’s uses, quote parsing is usually an example of someone too lazy to compose an actual paragraph, preferring the bullet form simplicity, or the inability to pass up what they perceive as a bunch of “straight lines”.
Yessuh! Y’all let us keep our slaves, an’ keep to your OWN business!
Delusions of superiority aside, she has a point: it CAN be annoying. If it can’t be said in a one-liner, does it really need to be said?
The Bumper Sticker Message Board is indeed full of wisdom.
How’s my posting?
http://www.eat.shit
Yes, it has merit, that is, as long as the meaning isn’t changed. Otherwise the forums become walls of redundant text.
The use of quote-parsing/sniping (I kind of like the “Sniping” term) can be done well or poorly. It’s really no different from writing a good paragraph or argument; it’s all in how you organize the thoughts and whether they work together to serve the reader’s ability to understand the point you’re trying to make.
Sometimes breaking up a post and quote-parsing is the best way to address a number of specific points. Sometimes you’re better off responding with a non-parsed answer.
“Foe” means “enemy.” Foe function = enemy function = ignore function.