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	moriath 2006-12-19 06:16 am UTC (link)
	I kind of want to know what exactly it is about it that irks us. When someone commented about back in the good ol' days of the F_W anon hate meme, I totally agreed that it was irritating, and still feel that way. But why do we care? AShouldn't we be worrying about how to scam lipstick/iPods/trendy-accessory-of-the-moment out of our ~~minions~~ friends? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	esorlehcar 2006-12-19 06:21 am UTC (link)
	It doesn't really irritate me. I just assume anyone who thinks they need to sign comments is either a total internet novice or a complete idiot (and frequently both), which more often than not turns out to be right on the money. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	serai 2006-12-19 06:28 am UTC (link)
	Look at it this way. Would you fail to sign your letters just because you were using stationary with your name printed at the top? It's very possible that people who sign their posts are just used to the old-fashioned idea of signing a note or letter, and don't want to stop. Not everyone has the same style online, and it's not necessarily about being new or stupid. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sunhawk 2006-12-19 06:52 am UTC (link)
	That was my thought as well. (Reply to this)(Parent)

polygamouse
2006-12-19 12:42 pm UTC (link)

Unfortunately, that's also what tends to annoy people. Forums, message boards and the like are set up more like conversations than a series of letters, and signing your comments disrupts the flow. It doesn't bother me, personally, but after someone signs off multiple comments in a row it starts to remind me of an old radio broadcast.

Till next time, this is polygamouse reminding you to drink Rich Chocolate Ovaltine.

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	semirecluse 2006-12-19 03:45 pm UTC (link)
	You should definitely sign your posts like that in the future. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	polygamouse 2006-12-19 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	Rich Chocolate Ovaltine gives Orphan Annie the vitamins and minerals she needs to outsmart Communists and the Irish. This is your friendly Ovaltine advocate polygamouse reminding you that Rich Chocolate Ovalitine is your best defense against "New Deal" economics. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	esorlehcar 2006-12-19 02:54 pm UTC (link)
	It's a matter of social conventions, I think. Unnecessarily signing posts (which, as someone points out below, are more like conversations than letters)isn't the end of the world, but it does suggest someone either doesn't understand the norms or is displaying a rather stupid affectation. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	frequentmouse 2006-12-19 05:48 pm UTC (link)
	Or, you know, has been online so long that signed comments are a habit going back to when everyone did it as there was only ISP info on the post, otherwise. (Get off my electronic lawn, dammit!) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	esorlehcar 2006-12-19 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	Doesn't work. If you've been around that long, you've been around long enough to it's not the current practice. It's not a big thing, as I said, but it just tend to suggest that someone is either either new, clueless, or attempting to be an iconoclast in a rather stupid way. Not always, but most of the time. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	frequentmouse 2006-12-19 06:26 pm UTC (link)
	Whatever you say, oh mistress of the universe and arbiter of all that's correct and proper in online communication. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

esorlehcar
2006-12-19 06:58 pm UTC (link)

Aaaaaaaand way to spectacularly miss the point. Social norms work the same way on the internet they work everywhere else. They generally aren't hard and fast rules, and people can break them deliberately and to good effect, but generally, if someone isn't following them for no apparent reason, people are going to think they're odd/clueless/not overly bright. If, for instance, you held out your hand for someone to shake and they sniffed it instead, you'd probably take it as a sign that there was something a little off.

I have no doubt that some people sign their posts for an actual reason, but having seen it done over and over again out of stupidity/general cluelessness/a misplaced sense of rebellion, that's my first assumption. And it's an assumption that's more often than not proven correct.

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frequentmouse
2006-12-19 07:17 pm UTC (link)

I have no doubt that some people sign their posts for an actual reason, but having seen it done over and over again out of stupidity/general cluelessness/a misplaced sense of rebellion, that's my first assumption. And it's an assumption that's more often than not proven correct.

And that in no way indicates anything about the way your presumptions color your interpretations, or anything, at all.

jf/lj is not the net in general, online etiquette is not a settled matter comparable to shaking hands, and signing/not signing posts is more a matter of ephemeral slang or body language than it is a cultural norm. At least (having been defeated in my attempt to keep this exchange at all humorous and unwanky) that is my experience in the larger world online, filtered through my understanding of culture change and sociolinguistics.

Capiche? My opinion, colored by my preference to not seekg offence from mere personal quirks as it's sort of a waste of neurotransmitters.

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esorlehcar, 2006-12-19 07:57 pm UTC

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esorlehcar, 2006-12-19 09:01 pm UTC

grrliz
2006-12-19 06:28 am UTC (link)

I figure it has to do with the fact that your username is so clearly displayed preceding each and every comment you make that it's redudant to add it at the end.

It makes me feel like the person doing it is trying to be my penpal or something, like they're writing a charming little letter on scented stationary every time they respond to a comment. The constant repetition of their name over and over just drives me nuts; it reminds me of how trauma psychologists on TV always tell the parents of kidnapped children to repeat their child's name over and over when they plea for their child's life on the 6 o'clock news because (so the psychologist says) it makes the kidnapper think of the child as a real person and reduces the chance that he or she will be hurt.

Evidently I've seen Silence of the Lambs one too many times.

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breecita
2006-12-19 06:36 am UTC (link)

To be fair, I do it sometimes because I share a journal with another person on LJ. We have to sign our comments if we want people to know which is which, so I get used to seeing a little reply box and signing my name at the bottom. And I've had people snark at me for it on LJ before when they didn't realize why I did it.

But then again, I try really hard not to do it here because I know it drives people nuts, and it IS terribly redundant.

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	grrliz 2006-12-19 06:39 am UTC (link)
	Why do you have a shared journal, if you don't mind me asking? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

breecita
2006-12-19 06:49 am UTC (link)

My best friend and I made it in 2001, back when we did EVERYTHING together. And we had been accused of being the same person fairly often in fandom, so we decided we needed to make a Fight Club themed journal and then we could claim that one of us was the figment of the other's imagination.

Yeah. We were bored in 2001. ;)

But then LJ became the big communication tool that it is sort of out of nowhere, and we were too lazy to go get different accounts. And now we're just used to it.

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	grrliz 2006-12-19 06:52 am UTC (link)
	LMAO Okay, gotcha. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	napalmnacey 2006-12-19 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	If they split up, I think I'd fall into foetal and cry for my Mummy. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	scarah2 2006-12-19 07:31 am UTC (link)
	Omg every SOTL fan needs to watch this video. Not really SFW because the song contains a lot of the word "fucking." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4-9mB_kGgg I don't know if it's properly called a 'fanvid,' a band wrote and recorded an original song about SOTL and then vidded it from the movie footage. They are much more catchy than Harry and the Potters, though. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	grrliz 2006-12-19 07:43 am UTC (link)
	ALKSJDLKASJD THAT TERRIFIED ME THE FIRST TIME YOU POSTED IT!!! The weird thing is that yesterday I actually had an opportunity to use the term "It puts the lotion in the basket." o_O (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	scarah2 2006-12-19 07:46 am UTC (link)
	I just love the chick in her van rocking out to the song. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	b_jellybean 2006-12-19 01:29 pm UTC (link)
	That is fucking AWESOME. (Reply to this)(Parent)

m_butterfly
2006-12-19 06:29 am UTC (link)

I think it's because, within fannish interaction, the point of a signature is to provide you with the information of who is commenting in case the initial note of that was missed or inconclusive. In mailing lists, it's very handy because of how often email addresses aren't informative. On forums, it's a way of providing additional information. On LJ/JF, it's kind of implying you're enough of a moron to have missed the bolded username that is right there above the comment in a prominent, highlighted box.

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	dustmotes 2006-12-19 11:04 pm UTC (link)
	I personally love signed posts. After reading a particularly stupid comment, I'm usually struck with amnesia, not knowing where or who I am. The signature at the end just reminds me who I'm going to say when I go to heaven and get my 'one kill' reward. Either them or Amanda Bynes. shrug (Reply to this)(Parent)

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