As Mike Darwin pointed out above, we can’t reliably tell if a joke comment is a joke.
But you know, this isn’t my strongest objection. It’s the noise-to-signal ratio. What I’m really concerned about is the opportunity cost of recognizing a joke as a joke, and having to work harder to find the serious branches of discussion.
How much effort did it actually take you to recognize that the comment “GRYFFINDOR!” by a user named “SortingHat” is a joke? It is silly to be worried about the opportunity cost here.
That is simply not true. We have discussion trees here. We can appreciate a joke comment as a joke and continue discourse in a more serious branch.
As Mike Darwin pointed out above, we can’t reliably tell if a joke comment is a joke.
But you know, this isn’t my strongest objection. It’s the noise-to-signal ratio. What I’m really concerned about is the opportunity cost of recognizing a joke as a joke, and having to work harder to find the serious branches of discussion.
How much effort did it actually take you to recognize that the comment “GRYFFINDOR!” by a user named “SortingHat” is a joke? It is silly to be worried about the opportunity cost here.
I imagine someone said a similar thing during Reddit’s infancy.
I was there when someone said a similar thing in Everything2′s infancy.