Yes, just like there’s a big difference between learning the culture of a community you’re coming into, and getting totally paranoid about that community and thinking that you’re somehow the center of their malevolent attention.
Dude. Rather than assuming that the jokes are at your expense–rather than assuming anyone knows who you are, even–why not pick up that knife Occam left behind and figure that maybe, just maybe, the jokes are jokes?
Trust me. When you’re being laughed at around this place, you’ll know it. Like right now, people are laughing at you because you’re being paranoid and shrill. Take your lumps, laugh sheepishly, quit being paranoid, and in two hours everyone will have forgotten about it.
Well that’s the thing, SDMB threads are open to **any and all ** members who choose to read and/or reply to them. Way more people will be reading them than just you, and if a poster wants to make a joke targeted towards those readers what the fuck does it matter to you? If you don’t get the joke and want to, ask and it’ll be explained. If you don’t care about the joke and don’t want to get it, ignore it.
Or maybe everyone should just stay out of all newbie threads so that we don’t violate their precious niavete. But then of course we’d probably have to listen to all the bitching about how the “clique” is ignoring the newbies. Wah!
Agree totally. True, an earnest question about an inside joke will get a bunch of jokey replies. But someone eventually will help you out. I’ve done so many times myself as kind of a public service. This board gets exponentially more interesting when the in-jokes make sense.
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Diogenes – for some reason, it seems you have been here since the beginning. Only a year+1/2?
Naw, I know who you are – you’re the guy that told me not to talk out my ass, and who I completely blew up at in an obnoxious manner, and who I exchanged apologies with immediately thereafter, and who everything’s cool with now, right?
Honestly, we’re all like a bunch of five-year-olds sometimes, fighting at the drop of a hat but making up just as quickly. But I did have to think about it for a moment to remember that interaction I had with you all the way back in Monday.
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askeptic, I’ve noticed you posting in the Pit a ton lately. A bit of extremely non-mod, non-Pit advice: sloooooow down. Also, it’s customary to just post your sig once per thread - it cuts down on bandwidth or somesuch.
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The boards are now set to display sigs automatically, and sig display is being touted as a benefit of membership. I think this custom has been scuttled.
[hijack]Munch, while I could understand a criticism about something I posted, why should the fact that I feel compelled, out of politeness or orneryness, to respond when somebody addresses me, be the focus of your complaint. I have every confidence that the administration does not need your unsolicited help. If my posts are out of line or in violation of the rules the mods will handle it. I readily admit that I oftent make comments I regret, but I must say if the worst complaint you have is “You post to often” I can’t say I really care.[/hijack].
Sadly, there’s a difference between an “in-joke” and an obscure or even witty reference that goes right over your head. In the case of the “Jenna Elfman” reference in a Scientology thread, someone who didn’t want to be extremely embarassed might do a quick Google search for “Jenna Elfman Scientology” and check out the 1600 or so hits.
Skutir, to put it bluntly, this was not an in-joke, unless you consider “in” to mean “several million people in the U.S.” It was a semi-humorous pop-culture reference that you weren’t clever enough to catch.
But I did have to think about it for a moment to remember that interaction I had with you all the way back in Monday.