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On-Line Mocking Etiquette
OK, so a kind of friend of mine has a grammatical error in her facebook status. It reads: "
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on -
I would mock anyone who mocks other people. That's generally my rule.
And to totally threadjack, but related to Facebook...does our parents' generation lack a sense of humor? My mom is too afraid of comment on FB (which leave me with the creepy feeling that she is just there to spy on me), but I swear most of the "I don't get it" comments come from parents. (And yes, my comment might be prompted by SW's mom). Do they just have a different sense of humor? Or does FB just exaggerate the differences in generational humor?
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Permalink Reply by mcglory13 on -
I think the answer to your question, Daria, might be that we aggregate info much faster than older people, who are used to watching TV news. The MLK jr thing is only funny if you not only saw tons of people post the misquote on FB and Twitter, but you then saw the article clarifying the misquote, and you then synthesized that information and applied it to SW's joke. Which, if you're not constantly up on the news cycle and zeitgeist, would be fairly hard to do. Constant news is a relatively new thing and not one the previous generations are used to.
Also, if anything in this answer is wonky, I apologize. I am STARVING. And have been grading all day.
As to the original question, I only mock those who I have a close enough relationship with that mocking is a general part of our relationship. Really good friends and family, basically.
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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on
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I think that's a fair and realistic answer. And a good synthesis of social media today. It's what I love about it, but also what's annoying. When I'm off-line for a few hours or day or weeks, there's generations that passed.
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Permalink Reply by StitchyWench on -
My poor mom, she was so lost! Then my brother and I piled on her and teased her for being old :D
Also, my mom does the opposite of your mom, she comments on or likes every thing I ever do on facebook. It doesn't usually bother me, but when she started doing that to my daughter I had to point out that she was being uncool and the girl's friends were going to think her grandma's a creeper!
Daria said:I would mock anyone who mocks other people. That's generally my rule.
And to totally threadjack, but related to Facebook...does our parents' generation lack a sense of humor? My mom is too afraid of comment on FB (which leave me with the creepy feeling that she is just there to spy on me), but I swear most of the "I don't get it" comments come from parents. (And yes, my comment might be prompted by SW's mom). Do they just have a different sense of humor? Or does FB just exaggerate the differences in generational humor?
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Permalink Reply by Andromeda on -
Diggy, i would so have to restrain myself from mocking that status update. but the one thing that i have to resign myself to is that some people just don't freaking care about the misuse of grammar.
case in point: http://theoatmeal.com/pages/retarded_emails (look at 14th place)
what browser are you using? Chrome automatically spell-checks as i'm typing. maybe you just need to turn spell-check on in your preferences.
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Permalink Reply by mcglory13 on
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Just to add to this conversation, someone I knew from high school is currently randomly being sarcastic and mocking on my status and she sounds like a giant bitch. I am considering un-friending her.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Mama on -
I try not to mock on FB as a general rule, unless someone else is being mean (rather than just dingy...not to be confused with "Diggy"). Even if I have a teasing relationship, it is way too easy for folks who don't know me to misunderstand my intent. The key word is try - sometimes I realize too late that I was being snide or that I wasn't being overt ENOUGH in my teasing and people don't recognize it as teasing.
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Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on
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If you have to ask if it's ok, then it's not ok enough.
Combining correcting and older generations, I had to restrain myself from commenting when the friend of a friend's mother chastized the friend for foul language in her FB page, that it was offensive to her and somehow reflected bad on friend's mother. It was just so uncomfortable to read that being written to a 30-something woman. And Friend, I admire your restraint.
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Permalink Reply by bethany on -
I probably wouldn't, because it would embarass them.
I try to think of those situations by asking, would I say this in a room of people and/or would I reply all if it were an email...just to have a better context for the effect it might have. Facebook is like talking--but in front of lots more people, and often someone's family and coworkers.
You could, however, post it to Lamebook.com they black out the last names. If you haven't checked out lamebook, definitely do!
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Permalink Reply by TommysMommy on -
Herasmus B. Dragon said:If you have to ask if it's ok, then it's not ok enough.
Combining correcting and older generations, I had to restrain myself from commenting when the friend of a friend's mother chastized the friend for foul language in her FB page, that it was offensive to her and somehow reflected bad on friend's mother. It was just so uncomfortable to read that being written to a 30-something woman. And Friend, I admire your restraint.
No kidding. I was like "WTF?" which I didn't say since I thought it would make it worse. Or better depending on your perspective!
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Permalink Reply by Floor Pie on -
Unless the mistake is particularly hilarious, I think making fun of grammar and usage is almost as lame as the mistakes themselves. Maybe even more. And I say this as a former proofreader and English major. My reasons:
- It's just not that funny or clever. It's kind of trite.
- Derailing a conversation to pick on grammatical errors is rude (especially when that conversation is about how awesome teachers are. Give the poor teachers a break...they've got enough problems without derailing a FB post thanking them!)
- You're setting yourself up to get piled on the next time you misplace an apostrophe.
- We're all living in a glass house when it comes to grammar/usage and are in no place to judge. (I messed up "to/too" on my FB page yesterday.)
- It makes people resent grammar and "correctness," which need all the help they can get! Don't feed the backlash!
- Social media sites have a different standard for writing. They just do. Just be glad your friends aren't all writing in text-speak and let it go.
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