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This may very well be true in organizations where the sarcasm exists in an established context of mutual respect (or at least, the knowledge that you'll have to
by zazen 10y ago
This may very well be true in organizations where the sarcasm exists in an established context of mutual respect (or at least, the knowledge that you'll have to keep working with the other person).
But it's very different when total strangers communicate by text over the internet: sarcastic comments breed aggressive replies, and threads degenerate into arguments very rapidly. I think good conversations online need more restraint and empathic effort than good conversations IRL.
- nabla9 10y agoI have noticed in HN that well justified critical comments without hostile tone are faced with aggressive tone if the subject is some new hot technology. The underdone seems to be "say positive things", not say intelligent or insightful things.
- eximius 10y agoI've noticed that too. However, since any criticisms I might have usually do not entirely detract from the... whatever, you can just preface it with something positive. "This is great! But, I wonder about X..." You get your criticism, they get their happy feelings.
- nickpsecurity 10y agoI followed by doing it even more on more topics containing bullshit. I had a steady following of people that respected that I continued counterpoints to fads while linking to evidence justifying it. I have opponents, too, that prefer I cancel my Internet service or end my unrelenting, evidence-driven "attacks" on certain things. Anyway, the trend exists but can just be ignored. There is a huge crowd of people here that appreciate thoughtful, civil counterpoints. I'll add that quite a few are also professionals in industry worth having in one's network for people that use HN that way.