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Agreed. For anyone else who routinely reads comments without reading the article, if this is still the top comment, I'd suggest you just go skim the article. (
by asr 13y ago
Agreed. For anyone else who routinely reads comments without reading the article, if this is still the top comment, I'd suggest you just go skim the article.
(Aside: I'd guess it's because there are people like me, who often read comments before or without reading the article, that a well-written but not on-point comment like this can get upvoted. I wonder how you'd fix that?)
- chc 13y agoWell, the obvious answer would be: Track whether a user has clicked on the link and disable the vote buttons until they have.
- calinet6 13y agoFor pete's sake, can't someone wax poetic on a slightly related subject of interest without it having to be taken as a polarizing direct criticism of the article? My bad, move along.
- chc 13y agoYou're surprised that people assume your comments are on-topic? I'm surprised by your surprise. In general, when everybody is talking about a topic and you add something to that discussion, they will try to interpret it in a light that makes it relevant. That's just how our brains process communication. If you intentionally mean to go off-topic (which you usually shouldn't, but we'll assume you have something really amazing to say), it's best to explain that you're not actually talking about the topic at hand but you thought it was interesting because X. That way people will be able to read your comment in the light in which it was intended rather than straining to find relevance. (Incidentally, I have no idea why you responded this way to my comment, which is explicitly about ways to ensure people read articles before voting on comments about the articles, and is not about you at all. Maybe you assumed it was on the topic of your comment?)
- calinet6 13y agoCan't a guy just pull at some straws and try to save face when he's clearly in the wrong? (Sorry)
- ajross 13y agoI was surprised at the depth of this thread too. But honestly, yeah. If you're going to wax poetic, it behooves you to let the audience know you're launching into a digression. Instead you started with a quote and a "Not exactly", which sounded like you were making an argument about the substance of the link. I don't even disagree with your point. But I posted because I did find the linked article interesting (if a little fluffy) and thought your digressive correction was missing some of that substance.