Questions, I've got questions

[crypto]

So whose idea was it to chat up the Supernatural season premiere on Twitter by making #luciferiscoming a trending topic? Was that some kind of consensus alternative when nothing on the first slate of #deaniscrying, #samisshirtless, #brothersarehugging, #castielismycopilot, and #ofcoursebobbyisstillgrumpy got a majority of votes? Or is there some kind of fan campaign to market the show to Satanists?

And hey, while I'm asking -- you know that thing where someone makes an LJ post, and then one or more people comment, "This."? Is that just an LJ/fandom/et al. thing, or does it happen on other kinds of blogs? When did it start -- and more importantly, where will it end?

And another thing! The whole "Signal Boost" in subject lines when you're linking to something -- where did that come from? Is it a Firefly thing? Just how many of my pet peeves can I blame on Joss Whedon?

Comments

[jonquil]

I saw "This" long before LJ was a gleam in anybody's eye. It may even go back to Usenet.

[crypto]

That would make sense, that it would originate in a low-baud-rate milieu. I only ever see it on LJ, never on other kinds of blogs, so I wondered.

[cofax7]

I've seen "this" and "+1" on places like /. and other geeky blogs/websites.

Dunno where Signalboost comes from, but I like it: it quite pithily encapsulates the point of the post.

[crypto]

I figured that "+1" had geek culture origins, but I didn't know if it derived from a computer thing or D&D/tabletop RPGs or something else.

I feel like I first saw rydra_wong and synecdochic use "signal boost" but it seemed to take off this summer. Or maybe I just started noticing it more.

[sara]

Oh, I've seen that for years.

I will bet that way back in the dark ages it came out of ham radio, actually. Because you know there was a distinct subset of the population that went ham radio -> BBSing -> Usenet -> forums/blogs/LJ/whatev.

[crypto]

So basically, what I've learned today is that I'm an internet n00b. So much for being aware of all traditions.... For my next trick, I'll post a picture of my cat with a badly-spelled caption -- that should really impress everyone!

[sara]

Hey, it's okay, we were all young once. ;>

[crypto]

*cough*yet I'm older than you!*cough*

[sara]

*cough* That's why it's funny, dude. If you were younger than I am, I would be being a patronizing asshole. *cough*

[crypto]

*cough*I had a spasm of "Wow, youth is far behind me" earlier today when I realized that my younger sister is gradually closing in on 40*cough*

[sara]

Hah, C's sister is closing in on 40 (not gradually at all) and she's still living at home and mooching off their parents. We keep hoping she'll have a "youth is far behind me" moment, but no luck so far....

[musesfool]

So whose idea was it to chat up the Supernatural season premiere on Twitter by making #luciferiscoming a trending topic?

I'm pretty sure that came from the folks who run the SuperWiki. I think they thought it would be more intriguing to the general populace than anything that needed actual knowledge of the show.

[crypto]

Ah, I should have guessed. That was pretty clever (the fact that I pictured a committee meeting sadly speaks volumes about my recent worklife). Of course, it had unforeseen consequences.

[musesfool]

I think it's hilarious that some people now think Satanists are taking over Twitter.

[princessofgeeks]

wait -- they're NOT????

[crypto]

Nah, they're still busy laying siege to MySpace last I heard.

[anatsuno]

I like 'This.' a lot better than ITAWTC/P! Not that it means you should like it too. *g*

[crypto]

But why always 'this' and never 'that'? Or 'these'? Or 'cette'???

[anatsuno]

not 'cette' cos we're mostly interacting in english; not 'these' because the underlying sentence is not 'I would have said exactly these words' but 'THIS is what I think, too'. And not that, probably because between this and that there are tiny connotations / usage differences in how they refer to something determined/indetermined, an antecedent or an element about to be introduced, etc. I... think. I'm not sure.

/overly srius answr omg

(I dunno; I am a good sheep and so started using This and not That because I had /seen/ This and not That used. So. A circular argument?)

[crypto]

So. A circular argument?

This.

[anatsuno]

A lot of language acquisition functions in that way! I'm not sure it's legitimate to hold it against this expression particularly. *g*

[crypto]

Hey, I never staked a claim to legitimacy for myself or for my absurd pet peeves. *g*

[anatsuno]

*impertinent lick, in passing*

(um. I might have impersonated kitten!Rodney a little too long this week.)

[crypto]

Kitten!Rodney? Shouldn't that be a scratch?

(was this an all-kitten!AU scenario? Just trying to imagine kitten!Todd...)

[anatsuno]

Kitten!Rodney doesn't /only/ scratch! The fun of making them kitten is to give them all a baseline of furry adorableness / a repertoire of affectionate+playful moves. So.

It's a mostly kitten!team AU; iirc Sam Carter owns/rescues them. It's... an excuse to have kitten John/Rodney rolling around licking and pawing at each other. *hangs head* There wasn't any Todd yet! It's not very plotty.

But I'll consult my co-player and ask what she thinks about the Wraith in there. :D

[crypto]

It's not very plotty.

You know, I probably would have guessed that part. *g*

Unless a sudden twist reveals that kitten!John is actually robot!kitten!John or something....

Satanists: An Emerging Demographic!

[karmageddon]

Signal-boosting is a Firefly (technically Serenity!) reference.

I HAAAATTTTTEE the 'this' thing. Sounds self-righteous or something? I'm sure that's not the way it's meant.

Re: Satanists: An Emerging Demographic!

[crypto]

Sounds self-righteous or something? I'm sure that's not the way it's meant.

I know what you mean; intentionally or not, it often comes across to me as, "FINALLY someone else gets it, unlike everybody else who's been fumbling to articulate X." Whereas the people posting 'this' comments probably just mean it as shorthand for "I agree with this."

[torachan]

I have no idea where signal boost came from, but it seems to me it's often/sometimes being used where pimp was used previously, since many people have made a conscious effort to move away from using pimp in the "here's something you should see" sense.

[stealthily]

How do you feel about IAWTC? I prefer that term.

[crypto]

I don't use it myself, but for whatever reason I'm okay with IAWTC. Maybe because it's an acronym for a complete sentence?