Pet Peeve: Fake Cut-Tags

[butterfly]

Okay, I can't take it anymore. I give my apologies in advance. And yes, this is unfair and bitchy and y'all don't actually need to read it, but if I don't vent about it, I will kill someone. Painfully.

1. This is a link.

2. The difference, I hope, is obvious. You're still reading the same post, only you can see any secret bitchiness that was hidden behind the cut.

3. ( This is actually still a link. It's just a link that happens to be enclosed in parenthesis and bolded. It is not a fake cut-tag. )

4. This is really not a fake link. It is, in fact, a real link. In what way is this fake? I mean, really, the hell?

Notice how when you click it, you magically go to another webpage? That would be what makes it a link.

And now that I no longer feel as though I need to maim someone, I will go answer my comments.

Thank you and good night.

ETA:
A metaphorical retelling of why this boggles me:

There is a lion. Someone has shaved off his mane and painted him with stripes.

Now, this person comes to me, after going to all that work of making the lion look different, and says, "Look! It's a fake tiger!"

And then I would boggle. Because, yes. But also, why?

Comments

[suaine.livejournal.com]

I very much feel your pain.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that some people understand. Because it hurts!

[suaine.livejournal.com]

And sometimes I just don't get why they go to the trouble to make it look like an lj-cut and then *say* it's not... I mean, subterfuge is one thing, but that's just completely pointless.

[citizenjess.livejournal.com]

My understanding of the term "fake link" is what you did with #3 - that is, you make it look like it's a cut-tag, but it takes you to a different page than your specific LiveJournal entry. I personally do not find this to be a great pox on humanity or teh internets, but there you go.

[citizenjess.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I guess that'd be "fake cut-tag".

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I went and changed the link on three so that it would go to another lj page, thus accurately reflecting what it is being defined as.

The thing that bugs me is that links existed first. And that lj-cut tags are very useful ways of avoiding spoilers or hiding large amounts of text. I just don't understand the need to create the fake lj-cut idea when the link one is still perfectly accurate and applicable. I mean, yes, you want to say, "and my real post is actually over here" then... why not just say that?

But yes, it is definitely a pet peeve, and not something that pisses me off on a greater level.

[citizenjess.livejournal.com]

I really want to make a post now using a fake cut-tag, and have a counter/tracker set up on the page where people inevitably click to. And then a little poll: "does this piss you off?" Also, I'll be charitable and leave a little text box available for people to write me death-threats. :D

You should!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Because a) meaningless statistics obtained via tiny poll samples are fun (I love taking lj polls -- seriously, I will take polls that I do not have fandom knowledge for just because I love them that much) and b) you need to fight the power. One should always fight oppression.

Don't let the man bisexual chick keep you down!

*raises fist in solidarity...
remembers that she is the oppressor and lowers fist sadly*

(Really, you should do it, I promise to click on it.)

Re: You should!

[citizenjess.livejournal.com]

Don't let the man bisexual chick keep you down!

I'm pretty versatile, so she'd get her turn on the bottom. Uh, I mean. Duly noted!

[siinik.livejournal.com]

I think - and this is just my opinion - but I think that people make fake cut tags just to be cute and "clever". It's a style thingy. I don't get it, but hey, whatever.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ah, style. I have no style. Seriously, none. Don't even ask what shirt I wore yesterday. Why? Because I won't be able to remember.

I don't actually mind the tags themselves, but just when they say, "follow the fake-cut". It just makes my brain go boggle-y. Whereas people just wanting their links to look cooler makes sense to me.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

Well, the only thing about the fake lj-cut, or link world that I'm interested in is that people actually cut spoilers.

Otherwise, it's all good.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Perfectly understandable.

Spoilers are a much greater horror than fake cut-tags.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

Spoilers are a hanging offence. I was horrified the other day when I talked to a couple of fans who thought people were over-reacting when it came to spoilers.

Umm nooo. Spoilers are evil.

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I actually do use # 3, but I mark it with a bolded "Link:" so people don't think it's a cut tag. I use it to draw attention to the link. I had no idea it would annoy anyone if I labeled it as a Link. :/

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Actually, the parenthesis-ing (notice the utter lack of a real word there) and bolding is not a thing that bugs me at all (of course, even if it did, that's no reason to stop).

I just mostly dislike the links that are all ( follow the fake-cut tag ) because my brain starts whining about how it's a link and link is three letters shorter than fake-cut. It's like nicknames that are longer than the name they nick. I mean, are they really a nickname then or is it more appropriate to call them an alias?

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't like to annoy my friends. Anyone else? Fuck them. But not my friends. :D

As for the links you're talking about, yes. I can see your point. It doesn't really bother me, but that might be because I'm too busy twitching over people who apparently can't find their shift key to capitalize their sentences. *twitches*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't like to annoy my friends. Anyone else? Fuck them. But not my friends. :D

Not to sound totally insecure, but, wow, are we friends? Because this is a thing I completely would support, but I don't want to assume and really? Already? You think I'm friend-worthy?

Yep. That was completely insecure.

Is it better to write the deeply insecure thing where you can see it or to hide it in a private post? Please advise as to your preferences because, for some reason, I keep being uncharacteristically open with you.

As for the links you're talking about, yes. I can see your point. It doesn't really bother me, but that might be because I'm too busy twitching over people who apparently can't find their shift key to capitalize their sentences. *twitches*

Ah, yes. This is a thing that concerns me also. I only recently actually told someone that his lack of capitalization was why I hadn't friended him. He did ask, completely out of the blue.

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

Not to sound totally insecure, but, wow, are we friends?

>.> Well, I'm prolly not any less insecure, considering my meltdown the past few days, but I like to think so. :D I like you, you don't seem to hate me, we have interesting conversations...

The insecurity thing doesn't scare me. Makes me feel better, because I've been feeling like everyone's hated me lately. :(

The lack of capitalization thing is something I forgive only in IM.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I find you intensely unhateable. But confusing, because I keep saying things to you that I normally do not say. My lj confessions are always either vague or about things long past.

I simply don't tell people when they make me nervous, because then I'm giving up the power. But, talking to you, I only seem to be able to process that after I've already hit the 'post comment' button and it's too late to change my mind. As I'm certain will happen with this very comment.

The lack of capitalization thing is something I forgive only in IM.

Many things that I find otherwise unforgivable are okay in IM, probably because of the real-time factor -- there's a reason to want to respond fairly quickly.

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you don't find me hateable. I feel kinda bad, now. I don't mind learning more about people, and I'm certainly not going to tell anyone. I mean, I'm glad that you open up to me, but sad if it makes you uncomfortable.

I fear I am making no sense here. Just ignore me.

Yeah, IM is a whole different place. Lots of things are forgivable there.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It's not a bad uncomfortable. It's just... odd. I'm just... I'm supposed to be more afraid. I'm used to being afraid. Being afraid is normal. And so, I don't actually tell people things because... fear. So, having the fear after is a good thing. And that's the worst explanation in the history of ever, but it's probably the best that I can do. Just... it's not a bad uncomfortable.

[m-butterfly.livejournal.com]

What drives me nuts is when they do a link made up to look like a cut-tag and then title it, "Follow the fake LJ-cut!" or something.

...isn't the point to make it unobtrusive and look as normal as possible? Isn't it completely defeating that to say what it is?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yes! I don't understand that at all. If you are going to all the trouble of making a link look like a cut-tag, why tell us and ruin the illusion?

Because, seriously, it took way more effort for me to make one that way than it does a regular link, what with the parenthesis and the bolding and the remembering to put the parenthesis outside the link itself but not outside the bold.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's eerie. That's exactly what bothers me about it too.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Follow my fake cut. Why why why? And everyone does it in icon communities, how is it clever or original. IT'S NOT!

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Well, from what I can remember, the trend began in comms where posters would make their links look like cut-tags, purposely tricking others into thinking they were clicking into the community when in reality they were clicking to the poster's own LJ. This was occasionally annoying when you're on dial-up and the poster's LJ had heavy graphics.

Then the trend began where the fake cut-tag would be announced as such, so that yes, you still have a cool cut-tag looking link but people in a comm don't feel duped because now they know they're going elsewhere.

Now people don't even bother with the bolding and the parentheses, yet still call them "fake cut-tags" (mostly because I don't think these people have any clue what a real "fake" cut-tag looks like). These are the links that annoy me most. It's not a fake cut-tag if it doesn't look like a cut-tag, y'know? It's just a link!

So yes, I feel your pain, even though I have on occasion used fake cut-tags to link from a comm to my own LJ. *g*

[m-butterfly.livejournal.com]

This was occasionally annoying when you're on dial-up and the poster's LJ had heavy graphics.

Though completely solvable with an ?style=mine addendum, proving once again that the world would be a better place if more people used that.


Now people don't even bother with the bolding and the parentheses, yet still call them "fake cut-tags". These are the links that annoy me most. It's not a fake cut-tag if it doesn't look like a cut-tag, y'know? It's just a link!

I know of at least one comm--I think it's book_icons--that has it in their rules that you can't call something a fake LJ-cut unless it is one.

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

Though completely solvable with an ?style=mine addendum, proving once again that the world would be a better place if more people used that.

I totally agree, though from what I recall the ?style=mine option wasn't available (or at least not in common use) until a while after the fake cut-tag had become a trend.

book_icons ... has it in their rules that you can't call something a fake LJ-cut unless it is one

Is it just me or does anyone else get swoony for strict but fair-handed mods? *g*

[merryish.livejournal.com]

This is why fandom is so much fun. =)

It kind of makes sense to me - just as a different way of denoting that the link is going to another LJ, rather than a non-lj page. I use them (in CSI comms to link back to stories in my LJ), but I don't label them fake. It just makes the trip back home transparent.

But then, lots of people use them to link to a regular web page; that I am afraid I don't get either.

And I do agree that fake is a misnomer; I mean, ok, in the sense that if you thought you were heading underneath a cut to the same post you're in, and instead were magically transported back to my LJ, I suppose I have "faked you out". But since there's really no subterfuge intended in it, maybe something like "LJ redirect" would be a better term.

Of course, that's a lot more letters, there, than "fake"... *grin*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

And I do agree that fake is a misnomer; I mean, ok, in the sense that if you thought you were heading underneath a cut to the same post you're in, and instead were magically transported back to my LJ, I suppose I have "faked you out". But since there's really no subterfuge intended in it, maybe something like "LJ redirect" would be a better term.

Yes, the pointlessly inaccuracy of it bothers me more than anything. I mean, I can understand wanting to make links look pretty, but I don't get why the renaming. I do not understand!

[songbirds.livejournal.com]

The whole "fake lj cut" seems passive to me. It does get on my nerves.

My personal pet peeve is one someone "posts" fic to a community, but really just puts a link to thier LJ...and its friends-locked.

I dont think flocking is wrong, I do it myself, but I dont understand the point of making it appear like you are sharing your work on a public forum, and not having it be a public post.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

My personal pet peeve is one someone "posts" fic to a community, but really just puts a link to thier LJ...and its friends-locked.

Wow, that makes so little sense. I'm also a little boggled when someone recs a flocked fic. Anyone who can read it likely has, so what's the point in teasing people about it?

[adelate]

When I first got on LJ, I used to do fake LJ cuts even before I knew what actual LJ cuts were. [laughs] Please don't kick me; I was young and stupid. (Now I'm just stupid. ;)) Anyway, I came across an LJ cut in a journal and thought that it was just a fun looking link and I did that for a while, before deciding it was just too damn much bother. :P

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

That's the thing that puzzles me the most -- it is a lot more work than just a link, so why ruin the illusion by pointing out that it's fake? To show off that you did the extra work? I don't get it.

[therisingmoon.livejournal.com]

oh god yes, i hate those links being passed off as fake cuts with a passion. a link is still a link and i don't get why, especially with icon resources that they have to have it direct to their own page.

*sighs*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yes! It just doesn't make sense to me.

[pershin.livejournal.com]

Same here.. when I click on a 'cut-tag' I expect it to be one!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Exactly!