Netiquette question: When did the "." and "..." response posts start?

[Shine]

I think it's a sweet and simple way to respond to something you agree with and to sort of pass along the good vibe, so to speak. I get what it means, I'm just curious as to when it started and if it's something done on other boards, or if it is singular to DU? Anybody know?

I am a relative newbie to DU (only a bit over 4 mos.) and, indeed, any sort of posting board, so it's interesting for me to note all the different terms, acronyms, etc that exist.

Please enlighten me....Thanks! :hi:

[mdmc]

1. I saw some sappy post recently, that was the first time I had seen it

Last week...

[Shine]

2. huh, only last week, eh? I've seen it used here for a long time, actually.

I lurked for a year or so, before I finally joined up, and I've seen it used for a while now. In fact, I think the very first time I noticed it was when Will Pitt was responding to something. A compliment or another, I'd imagine. ;)

Hmm....we'll see what others say.....

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. ...

Sometimes I use it to illustrate speechlessness, sometimes because I don't have a good opener and sometimes to kick a thread. :hi:

[Shine]

5. Huh, thanks for your input, MrsG.

do you know how long it's been used? have you used it the entire time you've been at DU? Have you ever seen it used elsewhere?

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. I overuse ellipses, and have for some time. I am not sure if I have

seen it used in other places or not. I tend to use it even in place of commas lots of times. :hi:

[Shine]

24. I didn't know they were called "ellipses".

huh.

[Richardo]

39. In have the same problem with the em-dash.

I mean -- and I swear this is true -- I never used to use them at all. :hi: MrsG!

[GirlinContempt]

4. I usually use it

either when I'm only posting an emoticon and no subject line seems appropriate, or to indicate a pause before something (usually hysterical laughter)

[Shine]

6. See? Now, this is all very interesting. there seem to be many nuances

;)
Cool, thanks for your input.

[ghostsofgiants]

19. Ditto, except replace "emoticon" with "random-ass picture."

[Shine]

25. LOL!

you mean like this?

[ghostsofgiants]

29. Well they usually relate to the post I'm replying to, somehow.

But that's pretty funny, haha.

[Shine]

31. well, you said "random-ass", so I took you literally!

that seemed like a random shot to me. hehehe. :hi: That's an actual shot taken outside of Lahaina, Maui.

[ghostsofgiants]

36. I meant random in the grand scheme of things...or something...

Exhibit A:

http://photobucket.com/albums/b91/primate1/

[Shine]

41. Nice albums, primate1. Random, indeed.

;)

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. On metafilter a single

period means a moment of silence.

.

I have seen it there for years.

[Shine]

9. what's "metafilter"? another posting board, I assume?

what's the subject matter? just curious....gawd, guess I'm out of the loop...:eyes:

[Omphaloskepsis]

13. Yeah, kinda.. But full of snark.

http://www.metafilter.com

The use of the single period is for when someone dies.. Or a similar tragedy.

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/48739

[Shine]

16. Oh, I gotcha.

I'll check out the website.
"snark" is another term I'd never heard of, before DU.
I'm sure it has to do with my lack of long-time cyber presence....
:hi:

[Strong Atheist]

8. If you want to put a smilie, but no subject, you can't.

So you put a "." in the subject.

[Shine]

10. :) but, didn't I just put a smilie there? Ohhhh, you mean emoticon?

I get it. So, the "." is connected with the use of an emoticon in the message area, right? Girl In Contempt was mentioning that, too.

veddy interestink.
;)

[In_The_Wind]

12. ~

I'm not sure when it started but I use: ".", "...", "~", "*", or sometimes "!".


:hi:

[Shine]

14. yeah, it's funny, huh? all the little quirks of the net...

I've seen those symbols used, too. :hi:

[In_The_Wind]

20. When I first started posting on DU, someone sent me a post about "~".

They ask me why I was using a key that had been deemed "the most useless key there is".

When a DUer talks about being attacked by the grammar police I guess that's what they're referring to. That happened to me in GD about a year ago! I had never posted in a forum before and I really was surprised.

[Shine]

26. YOU've got the coolest emoticons of all, Joan.

:)
"grammar police", yes I've heard that one, too.

People are funny. and I mean "peculiar funny", NOT "funny ha ha"...well, that too, I guess. ;)

[In_The_Wind]

46. People Are Funny.

The trick is helping them figure that one out.

[bleedingheart]

15. it is my lazy way of pausing...to make my posts seem more like

I am speaking...sorry for that...

[Shine]

17. well, I do that a lot, too, in my writing style...to make it more

conversational, so to speak, but I haven't really yet gotten into using it in the subject header of a response post.

hmmmm...it's just interesting for me to note all these different things....

[Lars39]

18. .

I think some people use it when they either want the post to be a little more private,
or they just can't think of a snappy subject line. :)

[billyskank]

21. ...

A single period is pretty hard to click on, though. :)

[Lars39]

23. True.

I usually just use them to kick a thread. :)

[Shine]

27. How can it be more private? You mean it's not on the subject line

so consequently, there's a whole slew of people who might not go beyond that and thus have it be more "private"? :shrug: This whole board is so public, so I guess I don't quite get what you mean...sorry.

but yeah, I totally get the not being able to think of a "snappy subject line" part...Makes sense to me.

I find this all very interesting...

:)

[Lars39]

30. It just gives the illusion of privacy,

since a lot of people don't read entire threads like I usually do. :blush:

[Shine]

33. Gotcha.

It's all good.

[qnr]

22. I've seen it for a long time. I tend to prefer ... as it is easier to

click on.

:hi:

[Shine]

28. ...

easier to literally TYPE, is that what you mean by "click on"? Sorry, I'm so lame. :eyes:

but yes, I've seen it used as subject headers for a long time, too. It's interesting to me.

:hi:

[qnr]

38. No, click on with the mouse pointer, if it is a post that is in the middle

of 75 others.

[Shine]

44. Oh, I gotcha.

:thumbsup:

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. I don't know, but it pisses me off.

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I hate when people do that.

And yeah, I know a bunch of you whistle-asses are gonna respond to this with a "." or "..." Go ahead, make my day.

Sigh...

[Shine]

34. there ya go again, being all pissed off about somethin' or 'nother...

;)

[Radical Activist]

37. Me too

At least post a haha or lol or something to denote some kind of meaning or message. "..." is spam.

[yellowdogmi]

42. ...

Okay. I didn't want to disappoint you. He He.

[khashka]

35. Idon't know but I hate it

But I'm an old internet fogey.

It renders the subject line obsolete, since it offers no subject - you do not know what is coming. I generally ignore posts like that unless it's a direct response to something I said or written by someone whose posts I enjoy reading.

I have a bad habit of starting a sentence in the subject line and finishing it in the post. I need to break myself of that, but at least it offers a start - you get a clue as to whether it's something you want to read or not.

Sorry, I'm a purist. Mostly.


As for acronyms and stuff - if you have any questions about what something means, just ask. Back in the day, we used them to minimize bandwidth (expensive) and time spent typing (irritating for us nontypers).

Another thing... Godwin's Law. Not only an internet thing, but very prevalent. And very useful. If anyone compares their debate opponent to Nazis - the debate ends. Usually, it's a bystander that invokes it..... but I've invoked it against myself at times. A debate gets out of hand, call the other one a Nazi and then declare Godwin's law on myself - it used to work wonderfully. Unfortunately a lot of newbies don't know net etiquette - and don't realize at one point there were rules of community behaviour. And we stood by them and enforced them. Now it's almost a free for all.

It's just not the same anymore........


Khash, nostalgic.
Khash.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

43. I'll remember not to do that to you, then, Khash.

I value your opinion on my posts. :D :D ;) :P

[laheina]

40. I just thought

that when that happened the poster had decided to self-delete. I never thought to ask anyone. :shrug:

[Benfea]

45. The first time I saw it was in dialog balloons in Japanese manga -NT

[ZombieNixon]

47. Usually because I can't think of a good opener...

Of course, since I've been on DU, I've increased my use of ellipses in other media of communications, like IMs, hundredfold. Personally, I blame CaliforniaPeggy...

[donheld]

48. People just want to make sure their posts have a point

:hi:

[Left Is Write]

49. I use it if I want to reply with an emoticon instead of actual words.

Like, if someone is down, and I have no words - I might put the "..." in the subject line and a hug emoticon inside.

This is not unique to DU, by the way.