I just had a realization that helped me make sense of something on the boards that’s confused me for a while.
Every spring, as results start to come out, threads pop up here where high schoolers engage in portal astrology. I find the entire prospect silly, but what I find especially … maddening? … is how inscrutable the conversations are, compared to most of the threads here.
As an example, here’s a recent conversation.
Why write like that? Staccato posts and all-replies-all-the-time. Nothing more than a sentence. Blerg?!
The realization I had: The kids posting in these threads are treating the boards here as if it were a chat on a Discord gaming server, where it’s kind of a non-stop, context-less, keep-up-or-you’ll-get-left-behind-but-whatever chat. I’m not critical of that style of use of the forums, and I’m glad they have a place to share their close reads of javascript, but it’s definitely different than the typical “let me wrap a point in some larger context, tie it in to the existing conversation, etc. etc.” approach that most posters here have. Just wanted to share that sense-making, in case it helps any of you.
(Also, thanks to @gumbymom for splitting that off into its own thread! I would have gone nuts if that were part of the normal Class of 2029 Discussion thread.)