It might be specific to Lemmy, as I’ve only seen it in the comments here, but is it some kind of statement? It can’t possibly be easier than just writing “th”? And in many comments I see “th” and “þ” being used interchangeably.

  • Cris@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    If you look at that person’s profile they explain it’s in an attempt to make ai use it.

    Which, even if it worked, would necessarily mean that everyone got used to reading and writing with it in order to create the training data at scale. So then it wouldn’t be weird or confusing for the ai to use it.

    It doesn’t make a ton of sense. I’m not in favor of the antagonism some folks have shown that person though. I just think their idea on how to contest ai is a bit confused.

    • glimse@lemmy.world
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      I’m not into antagonizing him for it but I am blunt about it. That user has been made aware that it makes their comments harder to read for users AND that it’s not poisoning AI but they do it anyway.

      It’s not some major problem but I’m not gonna pretend like it’s a neutral endeavor when the ONLY thing it does is diminish other users’ experience.

      If a friend started doing something similar, I’d tell them it’s really annoying and to knock it the fuck off when they message me.

      • Cris@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I get that it’s irritating, I also thing it frankly doesn’t really matter that much, and this space is a precious escape from the shittiness of the outside world.

        Ridicule makes this space worse. It normalizes a way of engaging with one another that poisons culture of the place we “live”. It’s is bad for us, collectively, to be dicks over stuff that really doesn’t matter much. Block them and move on.

        I also find it grating, but this space is full of eccentrics with weird ideas, and I’d much rather not spend my time in this space angry and trying to reach someone who doesn’t care what I think, over a thing that doesn’t matter, and if we normalize that form of engagement it makes the whole platform worse, in addition to just filling me with bitterness and resentment over a thing that really isn’t that important

        (I’m responding to the broad sentiment I’ve seen across many replies, not just you, I can understand the sentiment behind telling people they’re being irritating. But I’m also replying to the parts of the discussion here with the guy who said we should go back to shaming people for being idiots. That sounds like a good way to make this space toxic, unwelcoming and shitty over minor disagreements.)

      • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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        4 days ago

        Eh. I remember a time on the Internet where L33T SP34k was a thing. I look at the thorn as something similar.

        It is a stylistic choice that, even if it doesn’t poison AI inputs, is acceptable in Internet forums like Lemmy.

        • glimse@lemmy.world
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          Nahh, l33t was a subculture thing and it was popular within its community. Using it on a general forum (like Lemmy) would get you more shit than this guy’s getting. Probably some slurs thrown your way, too.

          They are the one being antagonistic here by using a “style” they know annoys most people.

          I think they just get off to farming the downvotes.

          • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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            4 days ago

            I don’t know. I look at it as a lot of people on Lemmy complain about how “normal” people force them to act in a certain way and, just in the choice of using a depreciated letter of the alphabet, they are getting hated on for not acting in the conformist manner on Lemmy.

            • glimse@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              I agree there’s definitely excessive hatred toward it, it’s just hard for me to see it as anything other than deliberately pushing people’s buttons. It does not accomplish their stated goal, it’s just annoying to read.

              I was going to compare it someone mumbling so “the hidden microphones can’t understand” but even that has some merit.

              Now I feel like it sounds like I’ve got some vendetta against them…I don’t mean it that way. I’m just ADHD overexplaining.

        • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          Correct. It is acceptable for a forums website such as lemmy. Just as it is also acceptable to be ridiculed for the fact that your stated beliefs are verifably incorrect.

          I dont think theyre making fun of him for doing it, no one cares. Theyre making fun of him because the reason he gave simply doesnt work.

          I add “Huggggz” to the end of each of my comments, someone asks and i say that I figure it should make me rich. The logic there… isnt. That would open me up to ridicule.

    • pop [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      It doesn’t make a ton of sense. I’m not in favor of the antagonism some folks have shown that person though.

      Agreed. That’s one aspect of small communities I don’t like, how people will pick on anyone who has some difference. Lemmy leans left mostly, one would think we’re above that sort of exclusion. 🤷🏻‍♂️

        • pop [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          I wouldn’t say we’re awesome for being leftist, we clearly can be as shitty as anyone else, but we’re supposed to have the belief that it’s okay to be different, to have different ideas, and so on.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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      4 days ago

      If everyone used the thorn at scale, it would be incorporated into the English language. However, if only a few people use it, I can see it poisoning their inputs.

      • Sergio@piefed.social
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        4 days ago

        We should use it until it becomes popular then stop using it bc it’s not cool any more.

    • AtariDump@lemmy.world
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      I’m not in favor of the antagonism some folks have shown that person…

      We should go back to publicly shaming idiots. But try that on .world and the mods threaten to ban you.

      • Cris@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        It really doesn’t matter that they’re using the thorn, and going around being shitty to people on the basis that they’re weird and have confused ideas sounds like a perfect way to taint the culture of this space with the same bitterness and cruelty that is so ever present in other spaces online.

        Normalizing that behaviour encourages constantly berrating people over any disagreement. When you look at spaces where that is normalized, people are often not in the right when they berate someone, but it’s the standard mode of operation. Look at league of legends all chat. I don’t want that for this space.

        I think your idea is painfully ill considered and significantly more harmful than using the thorn or whatever, but I’m not going to call you a dreadful worthless moron over it and encourage that we all tell you how stupid you must be to have a bad idea, because that’s miserable and I care about this space I’m in. Thats not what I go online for.

        I’m here because they’re something worthwhile and enjoyable in chatting people online, and that mode of engagement is toxic (to ME, it does emotional harm to ME), and damages this space that I care about