Citation Help

Is it actually against the rules to quote someone higher up in a thread, and do you get penalized for it?

I’ve been hanging out in the mobile tech and telephony subforums lately, and man, the mods over there are getting on my nerves with their whole "post editing" thing. Like, they act like you shouldn't touch your own posts unless it's an absolute emergency. They're handing out 30-point red cards for it, which feels wild since the rulebook doesn't even mention anything about quoting (click here).

Just to be clear, I’m not whining about getting a card myself, and I don't care about anyone else's penalties. I just want to know why there's such a nonsensical, unspoken rule🙄 floating around.

It’s honestly such a massive L when someone quotes a giant wall of text right above them, only to hit back with like, five measly words. It’s just... why?
Seriously, I’ve seen this happen thousands of times—literally—across basically every single sub-forum on here:
Sure, you could just hit reply, but nooo, people would rather smash that quote button and turn every thread with more than two posts into an absolute eyesore.

And don't even get me started on the pure insanity of someone starting a whole new thread, having the next guy quote their entire life story, then some third person comes along and quotes *that* mess... it just goes on and on forever.

If you don't get why this is totally unhinged, you might actually need to go back to basics because you clearly missed the entire foundation of American internet culture.

View on imgur

Honestly, the whole quoting thing bugs me too, but if you check the MIT documentation, it’s not even mentioned there.

If they're going to be such sticklers about quoting online, they should probably just put it in the official rulebook. Otherwise, you've got someone who actually does their homework, reads the rules, quotes the guy right above them, and then risks getting banned for it. 🤣

Man...
I don't usually quote the person directly above me, but look, there are tons of people joining these boards just to vent about some specific issue, and they barely have five posts under their belt. You really think they've memorized every single rule, including the stuff buried in some deep PDF manual?

Seriously, why on earth would you quote someone who’s sitting right above you? Like, what am I actually gaining by dragging an entire massive post into my reply? Enlighten me, please, because I honestly can't wrap my head around the logic of hitting that quote button when things are set up like this. 🤷
It’s just way faster to use Quick Reply, plus the whole thread stays way cleaner and much easier to follow if people want to quote stuff later.

The only time it makes sense is if there’s some massive flame war going on and you gotta quote them just so they can't go back and sneakily change their post after the fact.

check the edit.

Okay, I read the edit, but honestly? I highly doubt any of these people have ever even stepped foot on a legit forum before. It’s like they don't even grasp the basic unwritten rules of online etiquette. Like, one of the big ones is just not quoting someone directly above you if you aren't actually adding anything meaningful to their point. You know, instead of just repeating them? You don't need an IQ of 150 to realize that makes zero sense if you're actually following logic. Just imagine if we tried to talk like this in person...

You: Hey Alex Barnes93, what's up?
Me: Brandon Lopez6 says: "Hey Alex Barnes93, what's up?"; Nothing much, Brandon, just venting because I'm quoting you.
You: Alex Barnes93 says: "Nothing much, Brandon, just venting because I'm quoting you."; Yeah, that's weird.
Me: Brandon Lopez6 says: "Yeah, that's weird."; Totally.

I mean, dafuq? 😁

Edit: And now look at this... since I'm already bringing up how annoying people are... what kind of person aims for the Quote button, carefully positions their cursor in the text box, and then starts typing manually instead of just hitting Quick Reply to get it done in two seconds?

😕 ...because I mean, while we're sitting here typing out a response to one post, isn't it possible for another one to just fly in right before we even hit send?

driftingfox33 said:...

Is it actually that hard to just go back and do some editing on your own post to add stuff like how I quoted you? Plus, that little icon next to the "says" part takes you straight to the original post anyway.
I mean, sure, someone might jump in, but what if they don't? It’s not really a solid argument 😛

Alex Barnes93 said:Alright, read the edit, but I honestly doubt any of them have actually hung out on forums before. They probably don't even know basic internet etiquette—like how you shouldn't just quote someone right above you if you aren't actually addressing anything they said. You don't need a genius-level IQ to see that's just illogical. Imagine trying to have this conversation in person...

/cut

Take my boyfriend, for example. He’s 22, lives online constantly, but he couldn't care less about forums and has never posted on one in his life. I highly doubt he’d even grasp the stuff you find obvious.

The whole clone theory falls apart at MIT, too (if anyone was even thinking that), because there's no way someone cloned themselves just to claim their phone died 😁.

driftingfox33 said:😕 ...because while we're typing a reply, someone else might jump in before we can hit send?

Ditto. 🙂

Alex Barnes93 said:Is it really that hard to just edit your post and add something like how I quoted you? Besides, that little icon next to "says" takes you straight to the original post anyway.
I mean, sure, someone *could* jump in, but what if they don't? That's hardly a valid argument 😛

and you'd end up getting your post deleted or getting a strike 😬.

But seriously, there’s this massive, screen-width chunk where it says Quick Reply that’s like, twenty times wider than the actual quote button 🤷
. It makes zero sense. Like, how is it easier to just hit quote than to actually use some common sense and realize the Quick Reply box is—get this—for a *quick reply*?

Elizabeth Davis said:and you'd probably get wiped or banned for that 😬.

Here’s an exception though (quoting part of the post), which is fine. Why would I get banned or anything? I haven't run into that issue because I’m not out here editing someone else's post just to change the whole point (like if I took what you wrote and turned it into "and you'd get banned for that"), I'm just trimming things down to make it readable.

Edit: Also, your location has always been absolutely wild to me 😁

Alright, let's say it really is a massive deal when some newbie starts quoting Onliner, but then why isn't that actually written in the rules?
if they're busy scrolling through 10 billion quotes across 500 different threads every single day, can't they spare one minute to just toss a sentence into the rulebook?

That’s actually a killer question, and hopefully, we’ll get some real answers soon 🙂

I mean, I’m pretty sure you can go into the vBulletin settings and just toggle certain features off for specific user groups, right? Like, it might be worth just blocking anyone with fewer than 10 posts from using the quote function by default... though, yeah, okay, I guess there might be those rare times when someone actually *needs* to quote something for a legit reason, but still...

Don't go expecting much from this forum 😬.
I know other people have thrown out some solid ideas, but honestly, none of them ever actually gained any traction.

True that, haha.
And hey, check out this thing I stumbled upon
It’s pretty much the same vibe, and man, it is just incredibly annoying. You should definitely take a look at post #4 too—do me a favor and drop that link into this thread 😁

Elizabeth Davis said:Is it actually against the rules to quote someone directly above you, and does it carry any kind of penalty?

First off, I’d love to ask the moderator if they could please update the title to something more intuitive like Quote.

Moving on, there really isn't any need to quote the person right before you in stickied threads,
since those are specifically designed for discussions strictly related to the thread topic.
(And nothing else—nothing even close to it)
Quoting in those cases just clutters things up and kills the readability of the thread.
That doesn't apply to when you're pulling out a specific snippet from a previous post
if you are responding explicitly to just that tiny excerpt.

You just read the previous posts, click write your text, and hit send.
So the issue is really just about the desire to quote everything, which feels unnecessary to me,
because the very quote you're trying to include is sitting right there immediately above yours.
Honestly, if I were given the chance to understand why anyone feels such a strong need to quote like that,
we could have a real sit-down with the MIT moderators and settle this little debate once and for all. 🤷

As for getting banned? We try to avoid that, though being ignored by everyone is a deserved fate for some.

driftingfox33 said:😕 ...because in the time it takes us to respond to one post, couldn't someone else jump in before we even hit submit?

Anyone having trouble with the editing of their own post
is more than welcome to shoot us a PM at any time to get it fixed.

Elizabeth Davis said:If they can handle moving ten billion quotes across five hundred different threads every single day, surely they can spare a minute to add one sentence to the rules?

The rules change when they change, whenever and if we decide it's time.
We don't make any moves without suggestions and consensus from the super-moderators and the rest of the admin team.
This example is merely an introduction to what's currently being drafted,
and you might notice here that we aren't allowing coupon trading or posting raw links...

Alex Barnes93 said:I mean, look, I’m pretty certain you can actually toggle specific permissions for certain user groups on vBulletin, right? So, wouldn't it be a simple enough default setting to just block anyone with fewer than ten posts from using the quote function? It might actually solve some headaches—though, sure, what if someone needs to quote a post for a perfectly legitimate reason? Then we're stuck, I suppose...

That hasn't led anywhere, really. There were plenty of suggestions about preventing brand-new users from starting their own threads altogether,
but we just couldn't get much traction or find any common ground when we brought it up with the moderators over at the other sub-forums.

loneraven25 said:So, the whole issue is just this obsession with quoting everything, which honestly feels totally unnecessary,
since the quote you're actually replying to is sitting right there above yours anyway.

Preach!

loneraven25 said:I mean, if someone would just explain why we even need all this quoting,
we could have a real debate among the MIT moderators about whether this whole thing makes sense. 🤷

Honestly, this sounds more like a psychology question at this point, lol 😁
One big reason I’ve been posting way less on MIT is because of that constant escalation—everyone quoting everyone else in every single post. It’s exhausting. And I really don't want to be the guy hitting the block button on people who haven't even made twenty posts yet... what a joke.

loneraven25 said:First off, I’d ask the mod to change that sleepy title from Citiranje to Quote.

Also, there's really no need to quote the previous guy in stickied threads.
Those are meant specifically for discussions regarding the thread topic itself.
(And nothing else, period.)
Quoting like that just makes the thread harder to read.
That doesn't apply if you're replying to a specific snippet
of a previous post to address a direct point.

Just read the previous posts, click write your stuff, and hit send.
The issue is just wanting to quote for the sake of it, which feels useless to me,
since the part you're referencing is sitting right above yours anyway.
Honestly, if someone could explain why quoting is actually necessary,
we could hash it out with the MIT mods and settle this once and for all. 🤷

Looks like the stance hasn't changed. Keep it up. 😍

Rules change whenever we decide they should.
We don't move a finger without suggestions and agreements from the supermods and the rest of the admin team.

So Nica agrees that quoting gets you a strike?

Man
I saw you did some editing on the post and linked to a thread about the new rules. If it's allowed in one thread, why isn't it in the official rulebook PDF? Does that mean all these other bare links apply to everything, or just that one thread most people won't even bother opening?
(And you didn't have to break the spacing rule right at the start, either. 😬)

E2
Changed the title, hope I did a decent job. 🙂

Elizabeth Davis said:So, isnica actually on board with the idea that quoting should be completely phased out?

Wait, where on earth are you getting that from?
Whether or not we can actually agree on this really depends on which specific post we're talking about in the first place, doesn't it?
I actually went ahead and wrote that we should be avoiding cardboard packaging whenever possible, no matter the circumstances.
If you find yourself accidentally quoting someone without a heads-up, just shoot me a quick DM first. I'll send over some specific guidelines on how I'd like things handled moving forward to keep everything running smoothly.
If they keep blocking the discussion like this, wouldn't it make sense to implement some kind of mandatory moderator tool to actually hold things accountable?

Look, let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate: we have rules on this forum, and they aren't just suggestions. It’s pretty straightforward—certain behaviors are strictly prohibited here if we want to keep this community from turning into a total circus. Is it really that hard to follow the guidelines? We’re all here to have actual conversations, not to turn the place upside down, so please, just respect the boundaries we've set.:
Does anyone else feel like we need to get a little more serious about how people are behaving around here? I’m talking about the constant flood of useless, unwanted noise—just random information that has absolutely nothing to do with what we're actually discussing. It’s one thing to have a casual chat, but when people start posting things that are totally inappropriate for the vibe of this forum, or just flat-out derail the conversation, it becomes a real problem, doesn't it? We really need to tighten up on the quality of what's being shared if we want to keep this place functional. Does anyone else feel like certain people just post in a way that intentionally tanks the readability of the entire forum? It’s like they have this weird, unspoken goal to make everything harder to digest than it needs to be, isn't it? You go to read a thread hoping for some actual substance, and instead, you're met with this cluttered, chaotic mess that makes your eyes glaze over after two seconds. Why would anyone choose to communicate like that? It honestly feels like a direct hit to the quality of our discussions when people refuse to just, you know, write clearly. (includes inappropriate titles and signatures)

Elizabeth Davis said:So, does this mean those naked links actually carry weight across all the different threads, or are they just uselessly stuck to that one specific topic that most people won't even bother clicking on anyway?
And really, wasn't there no need to go breaking that rule about the initial spacing right out of the gate? 😬)

So, just to clear things up for anyone wondering—those naked links are only active for this specific thread, right?
Because we’re trying to steer clear of that massive wave of Chinese spam hitting our inboxes, right?
Aside from the fact that they look like an absolute eyesore, whoever clicks through first really needs to know exactly what kind of link they're dealing with.

Elizabeth Davis said:So, I went ahead and swapped out the title—tell me, did I nail it? 🙂

Thanks so much!
I’ll marry you once I finally grow up.

loneraven25 said:Nah, where’d you get that from?
Whether people agree or not really depends on what kind of post we're even talking about.

Aren't you guys setting the rules together with her?

Alex Barnes93 said:And honestly, is it really that much trouble to just edit your own post and tack on something like how I quoted you? Plus, that little icon next to "says" links straight back to the original post anyway...
I mean, sure, someone might jump in mid-sentence, but what if they don't? It's not exactly a solid argument... 😛

Look, I have zero issues with shortening things up—I actually do that all the time when I'm quoting people.
So, what you're saying is we should reply to the quick response first, and then just edit our posts if someone beats us to it (which happens way more often if you're writing a long post, right?) 🤦 The Quote feature exists for a reason, after all.

Of course, goodnight everyone...

Elizabeth Davis said:and you would have been deleted or banned for that😬.

🤣 Infinite loop.