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	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 (link)

No, JF and LJ are JF and LJ, with their own social norms, and not signing posts is very much a cultural norm here. On the internet, as in real life, what is considered acceptable/common practice in one arena is often not so in another.

There are forums where signing posts is standard practice (and, of course, there are also places like TWoP, where I've seen posters banned for refusing to stop signing their names). This is not one of them; signing posts here is not only unusual, but also generally frowned upon. Someone very new might not know it's frowned upon; someone very clueless might be able to be around for a long time without realizing it's frowned upon. And of course, people may choose to ignore the fact that it's frowned upon and sign anyway, for whatever reason. Those are pretty much the options. That last may sometimes have a good reason behind it, but your example of people who have been around for so long that they can't be expected to pay attention to the social norms for the forum they are currently frequenting really isn't one of them.

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	esorlehcar 2006-12-19 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	And I see in my first comment I said "total internet novice"... mea culpa. I should have said "total forum novice." (Reply to this)(Parent)

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