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I can't grok this trend at all. All these replies in the form of memes make me feel like I'm in the Darmok episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I'm grate

I can't grok this trend at all. All these replies in the form of memes make me feel like I'm in the Darmok episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I'm grateful communication on MatterMost at my company has not seen the need for reaction gifs emerge; the wildest thing we have is a custom emoji of a dancing banana.

artificial 6y ago
Hah, great anaology. Pretty crazy that 2chan/4chan popularized the reaction gif.
- anon73044 6y ago
  and folders full of canned reaction images long before every board supported gifs.... and before that, plaintext emoticons... ಠ_ಠ
  - smegger001 6y ago
    if only more system would leave my plain text emotes alone an not try to convert it to a emoji
  - artificial 6y ago
    desu desu desu desu desu
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  Chans have WebM support as well! Much better format in every way!
  - zaroth 6y ago
    The only thing more HN than debating the usage patterns of reaction gifs is to... veer further into discussing the file format used to share them. At least today it’s topical!
cheez 6y ago
It is an incredibly efficient way to communicate. Try it.
wfleming 6y ago
I don't disagree, but as an aside I think the references to that Star Trek episode (which I've been seeing a lot lately) is interesting. I find it amusingly ironic that the most effective way to describe the growing tendency to communicate mainly in cultural references is... a cultural reference.
- Icathian 6y ago
  Double irony points for using a Heinlein-ism in the post too.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
teddyh 6y ago
“Grok” is actually a cultural reference; it is a made-up word from a very famous science fiction book. When people use it, it looks the same to me like if they were using “Live long and prosper” in casual conversation.
- ghaff 6y ago
  I think one difference with "grok" is that, the way it's normally used, there really isn't IMO a perfect English replacement. To me at least, it implies a deeper and broader internalizing of something than saying "I understand it" or "I get it" necessarily implies.
  - whichquestion 6y ago
    Grokking being beyond understanding something is central to Valentine Michael Smiths understanding of the world, and therefore the plot, in “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Grok is not simply understanding or knowing a thing, it’s knowing that thing so well and all the things related to that thing, and understanding all of your feelings associated with that thing, that it becomes a part of you. At least, that was my interpretation of it. Heinlein’s explanation and exposition is more detailed in the actual book. If you have not read it, highly recommended.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      Oh, I've read it and it's on my bookshelf. Just something like 3 or 4 decades ago :-) It was never actually a particularly favorite Heinlein for me though so I haven't re-read in a very long time if ever.
      - qorrect 6y ago
        Hey same here, and Heinlein was my favorite author for a very long time. That particular book just never really did it for me.
        6y ago
lovegoblin 6y ago
> All these replies in the form of memes make me feel like I'm in the Darmok episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. If this is an ironic joke, it's a good one. If not, it's painfully un-self-aware. Because "feels like I'm in Darmok" is just an meaningless in isolation as "Temba, his arms wide."
- tempestn 6y ago
  Whether ironic or not, I found both the initial observation and your reply hilarious. Meme replies really are Darmok, and the meta nature of that is perfect.
  - lovegoblin 6y ago
    Exactly.
- thebigshane 6y ago
```It is a genuine source of hilarity to me that “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” is a potentially really useful popcultural-reference shorthand for “a situation where two groups face a difficulty communicating because one group speaks exclusively in memes and popculture references”``` -- https://twitter.com/venatrixlunaris/status/1185286370106859520 https://twitter.com/venatrixlunaris/status/11852863701068595...
farns 6y ago
Sokath! His eyes uncovered! Temba, his arms wide.
Aeolun 6y ago
I the only time I need giphy is when there is no appropriate (custom) emoticon. Giphy takes way too much space. Also, why does Teams not have a :shrug: icon. Seriously?
- Gene_Parmesan 6y ago
  If you're on Windows, windows key + period brings up the system-level emoji picker. Just thought I'd let you know in case you weren't aware there was even such a thing as a system-level emoji picker (I sure wasn't until someone on my team told me about it).
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    Unfortunately I’m on mac, but maybe I can just copy the emoji from a website and paste it. It didn’t occur to me it might get displayed correctly but not be selectable.
    - tekknik 6y ago
      https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-emoji-and-symbols-on-mac-mchlp1560/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-emoji-and-symbo...

artificial 6y ago

Hah, great anaology. Pretty crazy that 2chan/4chan popularized the reaction gif.

anon73044 6y ago
and folders full of canned reaction images long before every board supported gifs.... and before that, plaintext emoticons... ಠ_ಠ
- smegger001 6y ago
  if only more system would leave my plain text emotes alone an not try to convert it to a emoji
- artificial 6y ago
  desu desu desu desu desu
matheusmoreira 6y ago
Chans have WebM support as well! Much better format in every way!
- zaroth 6y ago
  The only thing more HN than debating the usage patterns of reaction gifs is to... veer further into discussing the file format used to share them. At least today it’s topical!

cheez 6y ago

It is an incredibly efficient way to communicate. Try it.

wfleming 6y ago

I don't disagree, but as an aside I think the references to that Star Trek episode (which I've been seeing a lot lately) is interesting. I find it amusingly ironic that the most effective way to describe the growing tendency to communicate mainly in cultural references is... a cultural reference.

Icathian 6y ago
Double irony points for using a Heinlein-ism in the post too.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

teddyh 6y ago

“Grok” is actually a cultural reference; it is a made-up word from a very famous science fiction book. When people use it, it looks the same to me like if they were using “Live long and prosper” in casual conversation.

ghaff 6y ago
I think one difference with "grok" is that, the way it's normally used, there really isn't IMO a perfect English replacement. To me at least, it implies a deeper and broader internalizing of something than saying "I understand it" or "I get it" necessarily implies.
- whichquestion 6y ago
  Grokking being beyond understanding something is central to Valentine Michael Smiths understanding of the world, and therefore the plot, in “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Grok is not simply understanding or knowing a thing, it’s knowing that thing so well and all the things related to that thing, and understanding all of your feelings associated with that thing, that it becomes a part of you. At least, that was my interpretation of it. Heinlein’s explanation and exposition is more detailed in the actual book. If you have not read it, highly recommended.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Oh, I've read it and it's on my bookshelf. Just something like 3 or 4 decades ago :-) It was never actually a particularly favorite Heinlein for me though so I haven't re-read in a very long time if ever.
    - qorrect 6y ago
      Hey same here, and Heinlein was my favorite author for a very long time. That particular book just never really did it for me.
      - 6y ago

lovegoblin 6y ago

> All these replies in the form of memes make me feel like I'm in the Darmok episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. If this is an ironic joke, it's a good one. If not, it's painfully un-self-aware. Because "feels like I'm in Darmok" is just an meaningless in isolation as "Temba, his arms wide."

tempestn 6y ago
Whether ironic or not, I found both the initial observation and your reply hilarious. Meme replies really are Darmok, and the meta nature of that is perfect.
- lovegoblin 6y ago
  Exactly.
thebigshane 6y ago
```It is a genuine source of hilarity to me that “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” is a potentially really useful popcultural-reference shorthand for “a situation where two groups face a difficulty communicating because one group speaks exclusively in memes and popculture references”``` -- https://twitter.com/venatrixlunaris/status/1185286370106859520 https://twitter.com/venatrixlunaris/status/11852863701068595...

farns 6y ago

Sokath! His eyes uncovered! Temba, his arms wide.

Aeolun 6y ago

I the only time I need giphy is when there is no appropriate (custom) emoticon. Giphy takes way too much space. Also, why does Teams not have a :shrug: icon. Seriously?

Gene_Parmesan 6y ago
If you're on Windows, windows key + period brings up the system-level emoji picker. Just thought I'd let you know in case you weren't aware there was even such a thing as a system-level emoji picker (I sure wasn't until someone on my team told me about it).
- Aeolun 6y ago
  Unfortunately I’m on mac, but maybe I can just copy the emoji from a website and paste it. It didn’t occur to me it might get displayed correctly but not be selectable.
  - tekknik 6y ago
    https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-emoji-and-symbols-on-mac-mchlp1560/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-emoji-and-symbo...