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What exactly is a "drive-by," post?

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people get all sorts of upset that others have negative opinions, and instead of ignoring them they'd rather endlessly quote someone and derail a thread.
 
deltatheta said:
I think it's when you come in to a thread, don't read any of the posts (possibly not even the OP), say something trollish, and then leave the thread, never bothering to respond again.

The essential component is dropping a bomb and immediately leaving the thread, but the drive by-ness is exacerbated when it's a huge thread with hundreds of posts that you obviously haven't read.
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pants said:
people get all sorts of upset that others have negative opinions, and instead of ignoring them they'd rather endlessly quote someone and derail a thread.
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See these posts.
 
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Paper Sparrow said:
This thread sucks. The mods should lock it. *Never comes back*

(That is an example.)
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This is thread whining, which could be considered a drive-by, I guess.

A drive by post is where you drop in, say something pointless or inflammatory, making it clear you have no interest in the discussion, then disappear from the thread.

To be fair, some drive-bys are encouraged by terrible OPs. If you ask a dumb question as the sole content of your OP, you're essentially begging people to come in and say stupid shit before leaving. Threads aren't actually designed to answer simple questions, in part because Google can do that for you. Thread creation, by design, is for discussing topics, which implies a back and forth, not a simple question and answer. I'm often surprised at the number of people who start a thread that could have been answered by Google, since they usually are in the first two or three posts, at which point there's nothing else to really say. A reasonable person, at that point, would quit posting in the thread, but that's not often what happens. Instead people keep answering the question, over and over, make jokes about the question, and generally turn the thread into a frothing mass of pointlessness.
 
besada said:
This is thread whining, which could be considered a drive-by, I guess.

A drive by post is where you drop in, say something pointless or inflammatory, making it clear you have no interest in the discussion, then disappear from the thread.
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Yeah, I'm pretty bad with examples. Others have posted much better explanations than me.
 
besada said:
This is thread whining, which could be considered a drive-by, I guess.

A drive by post is where you drop in, say something pointless or inflammatory, making it clear you have no interest in the discussion, then disappear from the thread.
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Thread: Should I get a PS4 for Bloodborne?

Post: Should I get Bloodborne for PS4?

...

my head hurts, why doesn't it work the other way around?
 
It's when you pick up your homies, drive over to the 7 eleven, pick up some 40's, drive down Offtopic lane and enter a smug punks thread. HEY OP, GET OUT OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
 
I see a lot of "posts xyz and then leaves the thread" responses. What exactly does "leaves the thread" entail? Not responding to a response within some specific (unknown) time frame?
 
humbugs said:
Ah ok so more or less little distinction between pointless/inflammatory. Common feature being that you probably don't return.
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Well, they're both drive-bys, but one is more likely to get you noticed and/or banned. If we banned everyone who ever did a drive by, Mumei and Opiate would be talking to each other in every thread. But if your drive by gets quoted a hundred times, and is clearly intended to inflame, rather than engender discussion, a mod is more likely to notice and present you with a hammer full of ban.
 
Try to derail a thread with one post and then leave

Like in that steam machine thread a few days ago where the usual suspects post 'valve doesn't make games' and then skitter off back into the crack in the wall
 
besada said:
A drive by post is where you drop in, say something pointless or inflammatory, making it clear you have no interest in the discussion, then disappear from the thread
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Hmm I guess I'm a drive-by poster to an extent. I usually read the OP and state my opinion, keep it moving. Most of thw time I wanna be in the conversation but since no one questions me or seems to care, I kind forget about the thread and go on to the next

It's not that I intentionally do that but more than often it seems like my opinion is what it is and the thread moves forward. It doesn't really bother me tbh.

Probably not coming back to this thread :(
 
Just search for any thread with Microsoft/EA/Ubisoft/Madden/Call of Duty in the title and you will see tons of them.
 
PhatSaqs said:
So the time between being labeled a drive by/banned vs responding is what?
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I think it depends on the thread and the post. If everyone quotes that specific reply and this goes on for maybe 3-4(just guessing) pages and the GAFfer getting quoted doesn't reply, people will start calling it a drive by. Or if that happened and then was forgotten, but a dozen pages later someone quotes it again and calls out the GAFfer, then it can be labeled a drive by post.
 
I'll give some examples. Bolded are thread titles, non-bolded/italicized are drive-by posts.

Shia LaBeouf is seen with a unique new haircut

"Who?"

New company reveals AAA batteries that are chargeable with micro usb cables

"People still use AAA batteries?"

I'm not excited about Final Fantasy XV

"Who cares?"

17 year old kid was arrested at stop light for playing his music in his car too loud

"Serves him right, he deserved it"

USA Network comedy Benched has been canceled

"People still watch TV?"

The people who make these kinds of posts don't want to explain their posts, they want you to get angry, they want you to question them and they don't want to respond to your responses to them.
 
"Black guy deserved it. Shouldn't have worn a hoodie. Looked very suspect."

or for gaming side

"Wow, 20 million sold and still no good games for this console. Why are people buying it?"
 
Oh yeah, the drive-by post usually happens on the first page, watch that person never ever return, that person is in some other thread complaining about something else.
 
Like a homeless person coming into your office, dropping a giant chocolate snake on your desk, and then leaving for the next unsuspecting office one town over. Process will repeat.
 
I have a wider definition of a drive-by post that includes those that post in a thread, but then never come back to check their replies...or maybe they do and just don't reply back.
 
besada said:
This is thread whining, which could be considered a drive-by, I guess.

A drive by post is where you drop in, say something pointless or inflammatory, making it clear you have no interest in the discussion, then disappear from the thread.

To be fair, some drive-bys are encouraged by terrible OPs. If you ask a dumb question as the sole content of your OP, you're essentially begging people to come in and say stupid shit before leaving. Threads aren't actually designed to answer simple questions, in part because Google can do that for you. Thread creation, by design, is for discussing topics, which implies a back and forth, not a simple question and answer. I'm often surprised at the number of people who start a thread that could have been answered by Google, since they usually are in the first two or three posts, at which point there's nothing else to really say. A reasonable person, at that point, would quit posting in the thread, but that's not often what happens. Instead people keep answering the question, over and over, make jokes about the question, and generally turn the thread into a frothing mass of pointlessness.
Click to expand...

Those are some of the best threads, though.
 
Hungarian people have terrible hair and are awful at math. It's a known fact, but of course GAF's hive mind is all too PC to admit so I'll get piled on, so have fun with that, keep riding Stephen I's dick, I'm out of this thread.
 
Drive by posts are mostly are myth.
Easy way for people to attack opinions / ideas / posts they do not like without actually having to address the content.
 
web01 said:
Drive by posts are mostly are myth.
Easy way for people to attack opinions / ideas / posts they do not like without actually having to address the content.
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I've seen a couple of posts actually posting something that falls completely out of context with the current posts and stated they would be out of the thread.

Usually when it is just a one line post that brings an opinion that has been brought many times in a thread and has been refuted many times in a thread, is probably not someone that wants to engage in a discussion and just want to post their super inventive view and leave. A drive-by post.
 
There are quite a lot of different ones. The ones that are most annoying are usually people voicing their uninformed opinion about a topic they don't really care or know much about, which usually leads to pages of derailment and people trying to "correct" the person, the dogpiling and the drive by posts are both equally annoying because the person isn't going to respond anyway but they can go on quoting it for pages.
 
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