A Thing About So Raven

spool32 · March 2014

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

spool32 wrote: »

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

spool32 wrote: »

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

spool32 wrote: »

It does kind of annoy me that to date we've gotten no explanation whatsoever for So Raven. Also that there were stats compiled on the bro? icon... I feel we're being experimented upon.

It's self explanatory surely?

Apparently not~

http s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toetNK3Q2qo

Oh, yes yes I know what So Raven is.

I don't know why it is.

Oh. Err. I don't really understand.

Can you explain why for agree & awesome?

[note, I've included the quotes above for context]

Agree lets us agree with posts without having to quote them and say I Agree
Awesome lets us indicate when we really like something, without running a separate forum with upvotes or quoting it to say how Awesome it is.
Bro let us express solidarity with bad news or frustration. SE++ Job thread or D&D [chat] were the archetypal examples of this. Of course because of treehousing on the forum, some subs used it ironically to mock people, which was disappointing.

So Raven is for why? It seems to almost be intended to fuck with the users, or be an experiment in how a basically useless button can be co-opted by a community for a purpose with shared understanding. Neither of those are (imo) good goals.
Or maybe it's for when somebody says something that's very stereotypical of himself? The actual meaning of "that's so raven" in the context of the show? If so, it's also basically useless because who cares about that reaction from a community standpoint, unless the intention is to do so in a critical manner, which is how it's now often used. It's dismissive - "Oh there's no need to grapple with what this person said, it's just him being himself again lol w/e".

None of those guesses (again, imo) are positive for community development. They add nothing of note or usefulness to the forum, and possibly add a negative component that's corrosive to the community, however small that effect might be.

I dislike ambiguous reactions; in a text medium, more ambiguity is the last thing we need, and systems that let us casually be mean to each other are also not a thing we need. That's why the Dislike button is gone!

tl;dr what is the story with So Raven? A couple months into the addition, it seems mildly unpleasant and counterproductive.

undergroundmonorail · March 2014

As far as I can tell, So Raven doesn't really serve a specific purpose, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I don't like that "Bro?" is gone, but that's irrelevant to this point.

If there's a post that I want to acknowledge but have nothing to add, that I don't necessarily agree with or think is awesome, I'll So Raven it. That's about it.

I think it's funny that we have a reaction called "So Raven" and I think it's good that we have a reaction that can be used to mean "I appreciate that post and don't have anything else to say".

TychoCelchuuu · March 2014

spool32 wrote: »

Bro let us express solidarity with bad news or frustration. SE++ Job thread or D&D [chat] were the archetypal examples of this. Of course because of treehousing on the forum, some subs used it ironically to mock people, which was disappointing.

I think you're very much overestimating the degree to which you have a handle on what the little buttons mean. "Agree" and "Awesome" are pretty straightforward, but you idea of what the "Bro?" button meant is (even to the degree it's correct about the SE++ Job thread or D&D chat) not the same as what my idea of what the "Bro?" button meant, and I suspect there are all sorts of people on these forums who have ideas about what the button meant different from yours and mine.

The So Raven button is similar. You have some guesses for what it means, because you think you know what "Bro?" meant. But you don't know what "Bro?" meant. You just know what you think it meant. So I'm not sure we should think that So Raven means what you think it means.

I think if you get bent out of shape about being So Ravened, that's not very Raven. Just chill out.