7 ms·
what's up with all the swearing? this trend of swearing as linkbait is getting pretty lame.
by hkyeti 15y ago
what's up with all the swearing? this trend of swearing as linkbait is getting pretty lame.
- danielhunt 15y agoI see absolutely nothing wrong with swearing. I actually have more of an issue with the automatic disapproval than a healthy spread of profanities.
- coderdude 15y agoI doubt it's an automatic disapproval. It's annoying because swearing is used as linkbait all the time.
- danielhunt 15y agoNow, that argument I can understand. And if that is indeed the reason for the GP, then fair enough. But is it really any different than 'sex sells'?
- j_baker 15y agoIf it's used all the time, it must be easy for you to provide a few examples. I've seen a few cases where a post title used profanity in a way that's arguably unnecessary, but I can't think of any examples of outright linkbaiting.
- coderdude 15y agoYou mean like this? http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=fuck http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=fuck Perhaps if we narrow it down to titles only: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+intitle%3Afuck https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+...
- j_baker 15y agoNo, I mean the specific examples that prompted you to make the comment I was responding to. You wouldn't make such a broad claim without at least one or two examples, would you?
- coderdude 15y agoSuffice it to say that any of the examples you find in those search results are examples of "fuck" being used as link bait. Even the submissions with "fuck you money" in the title since that is a linkbait-y term unto itself. I am of the opinion that unless you're discussing the word 'fuck' there is almost no possible reason to use it in a title unless it's to attract clicks and votes by eliciting an emotional response.
- j_baker 15y agoI think that's debatable. I don't see anything blatantly wrong with any of those, but I could see how someone might find titles like that inappropriate. I personally don't have a problem with it.
- coderdude 15y agoEverything is debatable! :) Whether it is or isn't appropriate is the topic of a separate discussion altogether. That would have to touch upon personal and community etiquette, professionalism, audience, and so forth. I'm purely focused on the link-bait aspect. Using swear words in a title is in a way like gaming the attention economy by subconsciously tricking peoples' minds into thinking that a piece of content "grabs" them on some level, even before seeing that content. What I would be interested to know is if there is data that shows that people up-vote those articles -- before reading them -- disproportionately more often than articles with no swear words in the title.
- j_baker 15y agoWhether it is or isn't appropriate is the topic of a separate discussion altogether. That would have to touch upon personal and community etiquette, professionalism, audience, and so forth. You don't think that's important? If you had put a lot of time into this presentation, were proud of it, and submitted it to Hacker News to share it with others (without realizing that some people would take the profanity as a linkbait attempt), wouldn't you be at least a bit upset if someone said: "Why do you people keep linkbaiting by putting profanity in the title?" If it were me, I'd probably tune them out and their (valid) complaints would go unheeded. But if someone said something like: "That was a great presentation! I think it would be even better if you excluded the profanity though. To be honest, it's a bit offensive. But that's just me. What do you think?" ...then I'd be more likely to listen, and might change the title just because I couldn't fathom offending someone so nice. Wouldn't you?
- RegEx 15y ago> I've seen a few cases where a post title used profanity in a way that's arguably unnecessary I think that's pretty much what he means, but you can't blame the author since it seems to work. People here are passionate, especially when it comes to articles related to the human side of software development. Profanity can tap into that emotion fairly well.
- coderdude 15y ago"but you can't blame the author since it seems to work" -> "Profanity can tap into that emotion fairly well." So a formula for getting knee-jerk clicks and votes is to "bait" the user by using language that elicits an emotional response. :)
- tobych 15y agoThe way I understand it, ignorant of the psychology of swearing but having had to think about it since arriving here from the UK, is that if you're swearing, you're breaking a taboo that people assume you understand, so if you break it, they guess that you've lost your ability to keep your cool, and that because of that they fear you might punch them or shoot them. Which it seems, to me, most people, rightly or wrongly, believe happens quite often here in the US.
- j_baker 15y agoSwearing serves a purpose: to express strong emotion. In this case, the author is expressing that it's really important to take breaks. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
- docgnome 15y agoThe problem I have with this is nicely illustrated by a (possibly apocryphal) story about John Steinbeck. He wrote to a college paper that was printing an entire page of the word "FUCK" He asked them to stop, not because it was offensive, but because it was devaluing the word. Swearing only serves to get a strong emotional reaction when it's uncommon.
- chc 15y agoYou seem to be disagreeing with a fictional comment that said "People should swear a lot," rather than the real parent, which said "I think it's pretty well justified in this case."
- docgnome 15y agoActually, that isn't what the parent said, and I'm not arguing with the parent. I'm making a point that cursing only maintains it's visceral power when used sparingly, which I don't think it really is in this video or in some recent articles.
- neilmiddleton 15y agoThe trend of swearing needlessly is getting a bit old period. Regardless of personal opinions it's not particularly professional…
- PakG1 15y agoAlthough I never swear, I can understand when someone I respect swears. It means that they are dead serious about what they are saying. They don't swear lightly, nor frequently. When I hear them swear, I better be taking them seriously, because it means they're upset. I don't lose any respect for them over it, because again, they don't do it lightly, nor frequently. They only do it when they want to make a serious, serious point.
- famousactress 15y agoI love swearing. I also actually agree with the OP. It's getting a little old. Some of the presentations I'm seeing really feel a little patronizing linkbait. But you know what I really can't stand? The word professional, used in this context. What does that even mean? I find it such an obnoxious term when used to suggest that the privilege of working comes at the cost of subscribing to some universal etiquette.
- neilmiddleton 15y agoProfessional = something you'd say in front of your clients / customers / potential employers etc.
- danudey 15y agoI don't think it really counts as link bait if it's in the title of a presentation you gave in person to a live crowd.
- shepbook 15y agoI do think it's relevant to use as it is the title of her talk, as someone else mentioned. I have more of an issue with people who take an issue with swearing. How does a word become a "curse word". It's an arbitrary assignment by society. Regular use of a particular word in a situation with negative emotions that conditions a response when used in conversation again... are we no better than Pavlov's dog? People who are offended by swearing... well... it's their own fucking problem. :P
- m_for_monkey 15y ago"How does a word become a "curse word". It's an arbitrary assignment by society." Not true. We specifically make it a taboo, ie. a word that's not supposed to be said by anyone at any occasion, and after that, from time to time, we brake this taboo. But beware, if you use a swearword too frequently, it will lose its power.
- bryanlarsen 15y ago3 comments about the article. 19 (now 20) about the swearing in the title. Including the swear may have been good for the author, but it's definitely bad for Hacker News.
- gyardley 15y agoIt's just an intensive. Probably the most innocuous use of the word 'fuck' there is. If English had standard intensive forms, and we could add additional intensity just by tweaking a word ending, we wouldn't have this issue. But we don't. Normally I think unnecessary swearing is lame too, but I'm having trouble figuring out a better way to intensify 'go home'. 'Go the heck home' is corny, 'seriously, go home' lacks the same punch, and 'GO HOME!' is just ugly. I wish I knew how and when 'the fuck' became the intensive of choice after an imperative. Now that'd be interesting.
- ctdonath 15y agoInnocuous perhaps, but the real time net-nanny filters installed by IT don't know or care. I can't read the article because of the proliferation of blacklisted words. I can't even read the Hacker News comments about it because of all the discussion using the opportunity to use such blacklisted words. Had to switch to my own personal system & ISP just to make this comment. Whatever the quality of the article, however salient his point, a lot of people are blocked from reading it - never mind poignant commentary getting lost amid all the blather over whether or not a four letter word should be used. "Go home" doesn't need an intensive on par with cursing or copulation.
- bradheintz 15y agoSo you you work at a company so censorious and distrustful that it expends labor and money to make sure you don't view any content with the dreaded F-word in it. And the OP is responsible for tuning her content to this company's perceived needs... why, exactly? I'd be curious how the management of this company (and others like it) feel about the actual content of the talk - sustainable pace vis-a-vis productivity & all that. I would not be at all shocked to find out that there was an inverse correlation between employee distrust and a GTFH ethic.
- rickmb 15y agoSo instead of complaining about a fascist employer, you make the effort to complain about someone using common language, ignoring the utter insanity of a company filtering access to words on the internet. I can think of certain phrase to describe that that wouldn't make it through those filters.
- Duff 15y agoIt's a gimmick to attract attention. It's the verbal equivalent of Ozzy Osborne biting the head off of a bird on TV, except lamer.
- 3am 15y agoI felt the same way, fwiw, and I'm glad you mentioned it. I considere it an immature form of attention-getting, and counterproductive (I don't need to click through to read someone's opinion on work schedules from someone who isn't mature enough to express themselves without swearing)
- rickmb 15y agoThis trend of people complaining about the perfectly innocent and common use of swearing is getting pretty lame. Especially combined with the unfounded accusation that there is some kind of deliberate, manipulative intent behind it. What on earth makes you think this is intended as linkbait? Nobody ever uses swear words where you're from?
- zszugyi 15y agoI think the title is inspired by the children book "Go the f* to sleep".