Wikipedia:Sarcasm is really helpful
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This isn't an essay, really. It is so obviously a policy or guideline because of the deeply formal tone and level-headed advice it presents. In fact, this page is so well-written that you shouldn't update the page, or discuss it on the talk page. Yeah. Right. |
| Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded. |
Sometimes, when dealing with a particularly difficult editor or situation, you may be tempted to resort to sarcasm. That's a really great idea. Sarcasm works really well in online media, because it's so easy to pick up on without all of those pesky extratextual cues. It's hard to see how the employment of sarcasm could possibly be counterproductive.
Sarcasm is especially useful in controversial debates, where a sarcastic comment often has the effect of calming the situation. Don't worry about offending people; simply appending a smiley emoticon or humorous HTML tag (</sarcasm>) to your comment will undoubtedly assuage any hurt feelings, and doing so exempts you from the strictures of civility and good faith.
Despite the use of the above measures and your inherent, undeniable cleverness, your sarcastic remarks may still be unrecognized or unappreciated by their target audience. This should clearly be interpreted as immediate confirmation of your superior intellect and wit, as well as a corresponding deficiency of those qualities in your audience; you should not hesitate to emphasize this, as it will enable further discussion to proceed productively. In extreme cases, users have been singled out for special recognition of such demonstrated superiority.
While one could, of course, employ sarcasm from one's registered Wikipedia account, sarcasm is far more effective and appreciated if you have the courage to post it from an anonymous IP address.
[edit] External links
- How To Be Sarcastic: A tutorial from the Sarcasm Society.
- Policy against sarcasm: An policy proposal on Wikipedia to forbid sarcasm (no, seriously!)
- Wikipedia bans sarcasm: an UnNews story about the above.
