What do you call it when...

Ovinomancer · Apr 1, 2019

jonesy said:
Really?

Yup.

I've been guilty of it myself

So, then, you do understand?

[Quite]a few times.[/quote]
I bet.

I've done it

You already said that.

to make my replies to really long posts more legible.

Does it do this? Presumably, you typed your response and didn't handwrite it, so wouldn't it be as legible either way?

I'd be interested to know

I hope this concludes the lesson.

No, seriously, and apologies for the above, but Fisking is often paired with taking things out of context and also skipping over parts that actually speak to the response. Fisking is a line by line rebuttal meant to take the other post apart, and it lends itself to other abusive posting tactics. If you're just responding to whole points from a post that makes multiple ones, that's not necessarily Fisking. If you're responding to each line, that's Fisking.

Deset Gled · Apr 1, 2019

Is there a name for that thing where someone fully quotes a 20 paragraph post, and then types a one line response below it? In this scenario, the response is germane (i.e. not "Me too!"), it's just that the length of the quoted text is completely gratuitous to the point of distracting from the response/discussion.

Satyrn · Apr 1, 2019

Deset Gled said:
Is there a name for that thing where someone fully quotes a 20 paragraph post, and then types a one line response below it? In this scenario, the response is germane (i.e. not "Me too!"), it's just that the length of the quoted text is completely gratuitous to the point of distracting from the response/discussion.

Because most of my responses are one-liners, I'm sure I've been guilty of this.

But the alternative, shortening the quote to the single line or paragraph that I'm responding to, gets viewed negatively here, too, and I would not be surprised to discover that @Dannyalcatraz has fielded reports about me doing that.

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 2, 2019

Some people are annoyed if you edit their posts at all when you respond.

Tonguez · Apr 2, 2019

Satyrn said:
Because most of my responses are one-liners, I'm sure I've been guilty

and I would not be surprised to discover that @Dannyalcatraz has fielded reports about me doing that.

Oh I’m absolutely certain he has

Umbran · Apr 2, 2019

Ovinomancer said:
"Fisking." After Robert Fisk, the journalist and writer, I believe.

fisking: n.
[blogosphere; very common] A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story. A really stylish fisking is witty, logical, sarcastic and ruthlessly factual; flaming or handwaving is considered poor form. Named after Robert Fisk, a British journalist who was a frequent (and deserving) early target of such treatment

Hussar · Apr 3, 2019

Cool. Thanks @Ovinomancer.

Oh, wait, he has me on ignore. Can someone quote this so I can thank him/her properly?

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 3, 2019

Hussar said:
Cool. Thanks @Ovinomancer.

Oh, wait, he has me on ignore. Can someone quote this so I can thank him/her properly?

Asked, Done.

Umbran · Apr 3, 2019

Ovinomancer said:
If you're responding to each line, that's Fisking.

If you are using the extreme breakdown to be able to take things out of context and skip over relevant bits, the target will be annoyed at you.

If you are using the extreme breakdown because the piece has major incorrect elements on every line and they need correction, the target will still be annoyed at you, but that's what they get for being so wrong on the internet.

Ryujin · Apr 3, 2019

Umbran said:
If you are using the extreme breakdown to be able to take things out of context and skip over relevant bits, the target will be annoyed at you.

If you are using the extreme breakdown because the piece has major incorrect elements on every line and they need correction, the target will still be annoyed at you, but that's what they get for being so wrong on the internet.

And a useful tactic is to remove references to your own post, clump together all of the responses from the Fisker (at which point they will generally look like disconnected nonsense), and then respond to that whole.