7 ms·

I think I need help understanding why this is in any way relevant or interesting. I'm actually serious and open to listening. Obviously it got on the front page

I think I need help understanding why this is in any way relevant or interesting. I'm actually serious and open to listening. Obviously it got on the front page.

gbaygon 10y ago
Personally I find interesting the general idea that adding constraints to a system leads to creative outlets, forcing the participants to break entablished thinking patterns. The fun stuff here is not the content, but the alternative paths the writer has to take to convey the message.
- confounded 10y ago
  Indeed, the 140 character constraint was one of the things that made Twitter novel.
  - feld 10y ago
    No that's what makes it suck. The limitation was for SMS compatibility, but the reality is that it makes it impossible to have meaningful discourse.
    - lolsal 10y ago
      So don't have meaningful discourse over SMS/twitter. Use email/phone/forums/...
      - feld 10y ago
        Too much email. Too many people I know don't want to share their phone numbers. Forums are generally terrible. Try using Mastodon and you'll find it's twitter with meaningful conversations. 500 characters is a game changer.
- porpoisemonkey 10y ago
  Wouldn't the asy workaround b to writ what you wantd to writ but drop th "3"? Even without the e's you can probably infer meaning with a high probability of success.
  - odisbey 10y ago
    R3TURN
  - scadge 10y ago
    Replacing 'e' with similar symbols like '3' is also not allowed. That's the point :)
    - Sophira 10y ago
      It's not actually said that "3" should swap with it - it's a substitution for that symbol. It's a proposal to post normally but to omit any symbols that don't fit by just not typing anything.
slim 10y ago
It makes you discover new words. Enriches your language
Joeboy 10y ago
Thinking about constraints in art is intriguing, but for my part I simply find it a lot of fun. But possibly it's just not your bag and that's OK.
coldtea 10y ago
For one, it's a gimmick that brings attention to Mastodon, which as a foss/decentralized alternative to Twitter, is interesting in its own. Second, it's based on a centuries old literature/poetic challenge/game, of writing a text based on some constraint, and especially with avoiding a specific letter (a "lipogram"). Third, the challenge itself, which removes the ability to use the most common letter in English, is amusing enough to people. It makes you think harder about phrasing, and solve how you express something in alternative and creative ways. So it's a kind of fun game, like e.g. Scrabble. Fourth, besides the fun/challenge factor, exploring alternative ways of writing a sentence is something that most people seldom think hard about, but that has applications in general writing too (in other words: what you gain by working around some constrain can make you a better writer in general, even when there are no artificial constrains imposed). P.S. How are things going in Vulcan?

I think I need help understanding why this is in any way relevant or interesting. I'm actually serious and open to listening. Obviously it got on the front page.

gbaygon 10y ago

Personally I find interesting the general idea that adding constraints to a system leads to creative outlets, forcing the participants to break entablished thinking patterns. The fun stuff here is not the content, but the alternative paths the writer has to take to convey the message.

confounded 10y ago
Indeed, the 140 character constraint was one of the things that made Twitter novel.
- feld 10y ago
  No that's what makes it suck. The limitation was for SMS compatibility, but the reality is that it makes it impossible to have meaningful discourse.
  - lolsal 10y ago
    So don't have meaningful discourse over SMS/twitter. Use email/phone/forums/...
    - feld 10y ago
      Too much email. Too many people I know don't want to share their phone numbers. Forums are generally terrible. Try using Mastodon and you'll find it's twitter with meaningful conversations. 500 characters is a game changer.
porpoisemonkey 10y ago
Wouldn't the asy workaround b to writ what you wantd to writ but drop th "3"? Even without the e's you can probably infer meaning with a high probability of success.
- odisbey 10y ago
  R3TURN
- scadge 10y ago
  Replacing 'e' with similar symbols like '3' is also not allowed. That's the point :)
  - Sophira 10y ago
    It's not actually said that "3" should swap with it - it's a substitution for that symbol. It's a proposal to post normally but to omit any symbols that don't fit by just not typing anything.

slim 10y ago

It makes you discover new words. Enriches your language

Joeboy 10y ago

Thinking about constraints in art is intriguing, but for my part I simply find it a lot of fun. But possibly it's just not your bag and that's OK.

coldtea 10y ago

For one, it's a gimmick that brings attention to Mastodon, which as a foss/decentralized alternative to Twitter, is interesting in its own. Second, it's based on a centuries old literature/poetic challenge/game, of writing a text based on some constraint, and especially with avoiding a specific letter (a "lipogram"). Third, the challenge itself, which removes the ability to use the most common letter in English, is amusing enough to people. It makes you think harder about phrasing, and solve how you express something in alternative and creative ways. So it's a kind of fun game, like e.g. Scrabble. Fourth, besides the fun/challenge factor, exploring alternative ways of writing a sentence is something that most people seldom think hard about, but that has applications in general writing too (in other words: what you gain by working around some constrain can make you a better writer in general, even when there are no artificial constrains imposed). P.S. How are things going in Vulcan?