Though I should have noticed the “humor” and “just fun” tags, Molly Holzschlag’s post on Sunday Molly’s New Microformat: Microtude had me wishing that we didn’t have to spoon feed our intentions when writing for an online audience. That having to point out the sarcasm in our statement takes the edge off the sarcasm in the first place. And that makes for an uninteresting article.
Context, I commented, was the key. The right people will get it.
I guess I’m not the right “people.”
While I’ve been a semi-long-time reader of Molly.com, I wouldn’t presume to know her voice. So I was taken in, when the whole discussion about sematics and sarcasm was just that…sarcasm.
But does that prove my point or not. Because, I’ve learned a tiny life lesson now, to not assume, just by a single read of a post, that you know completely what’s going on. Take some time, sit back and think over what’s just been presented to you. Then, if you feel you can add to the discussion, do so earnestly and politely.
But, had I noticed the “just for fun” tag, would I have then known to disregard the whole post as an exercise in frivolity. Would I have read it at all?
When it comes to the inner circles of web design, I count myself among the slovenly few that linger about the edges of the orb, occasionally breaking the surface for inspiration here, code fixes there, small gulps of knowledge to satiate the project of the right here and now.
But when it comes to the inner circle of humanity, I count myself as one of the more clever individuals, hiding in the darker areas, floating in my own bubble of sarcasm, quietly scoffing at those that don’t get the joke.
Molly got me, she got me good.
