cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

I was wondering about all the weird one-liner replies (such as "Yes. I think the same as you.") that keep popping up on the boards and decided to do a little further digging. These turn out to be some kind of semi-automatic junk posts put up by newbie or throwaway accounts for the most part.

 

To see them, pick any short reply that seems weird, disjointed or out of place (such as "We don't have to do this, but it's helpful advice."), and do the following:

 

  1. Plug it into the Community search field at the top of the screen, putting it within double quotes: "We don't have to do this, but it's helpful advice."
  2. When the Results page comes up, change the Sorted By: order from Best Match to Date (descending Down Arrow).
  3. Click on the Advanced heading, and change the View results by from Topics to Specific Posts.

That will give you a detailed list of all the throwaway accounts currently using that post. It's weird and puzzling at the same time. There is nothing to be gained by any of it.

 

Other current randomly generated posts:

  • "How exactly was this negative unwarranted?" (This one was out of context everywhere that I found it.)
  • "Exactly right. Thanks for answering."
  • "Thank you for the helpful and encouraging insight. Appreciated very much."
  • "They're probably referring to ebay's Worldwide Shipping Program."
  • "Thanks for answering."
  • "I am not sure what you are talking about."
  • "We don't have to do this, but it's helpful advice."
  • "Yes. I think the same as you."
  • "This was the wrong thing to do, and you can report the seller for this."

If you then pick any of the accounts that posted a comment above and look at their other replies, you will find more one-liners from the same collection being posted elsewhere. (I found one case this morning where the same poster used two of them in the same thread, just four replies apart.)

 

All I can guess here is that foreign users (not necessarily the Sri Lanka bunch, but ones that do not seem to know the English language) are being given a list of "sample" comments from somewhere, from which they can post their choice, but so many of the posted replies are so wildly out of context for what's being discussed that I cannot see the point of it at all. Just to collect badges?

Message 1 of 91
latest reply
90 REPLIES 90

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

@itsjustasprain 

Exactly right. Thanks for answering!

Message 16 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?


@bigdeals.etc wrote:

@itsjustasprain 

Exactly right. Thanks for answering!


ROFL I see what you did there..   And I like your tidy house. 

~Pika~
People in life that are the happiest don't have the most,, they make the most of what they have...

Message 17 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?


@a_c_green wrote:

@donsdetour wrote:

@a_c_green wrote:


I have another one to add to the collection here: "it's awesome, i love it"

 

That was posted to a thread about search problems, among other places... 🙄


It is what it is.....LOL


Actually, I have to admit here that I have used "It's awesome, I love it" and "It is what it is" on various occasions when the spouse accuses me of not listening, and I suddenly have to say something useful in response.

 

just be very careful..............if she ever asks ....."Were you drunk"....usually the safe answer is.........yes.........

 

 

 

 


 

Message 18 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

I get attempts to post comments like this on my webcomic. From what I've been told by Wordpress, it has something to do with Google Analytics. The more times you get your username to appear online, the better, or something.

I have no idea how that works, though. Maybe it's related to the offers I also get to increase my webcomic's ranking on Google. If I pay, of course.

______
I am a volunteer here to try and help others, so be nice and remember - My advice might well be worth what you're paying for it.
Message 19 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

Yes, I think the same as you.....

Message 20 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

We're getting the same on the Collectiblkes & Art board.  In some cases, exactly the lines you have posted.  And this one, which confuses matters because it sounds like it comes from the OP using a different ID:  "Thank you for the reply.  I appreciate the feedback."

 

Anyhow, yes, it's bizarre and a real time- and space-waster.  And worse, because since these "replies" are purely random, they are as likely as not to be given to posts that are in error about an identification.  

=

Message 21 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

Personally, I think these one-liners may be for a different reason.

 

If I stand back, and try to view them with no preconception, they look like people are trying to participate in the conversation. Many of the people probably don't speak English as a first language, and that accounts for some of the apparent inappropriateness.  But it's always awkward, trying to join a conversation with people you don't know and it's easy to step on toes and put your foot into your mouth, if you don't know the ropes.

 

Quite possibly, some of the motivation for joining the discussion is google analytics, or other transparent/hidden online rating systems. Who knows. For whatever reason, they want to join the discussion. After all, this is a discussion board. I know the community team wants to encourage participation, for their own reasons, because the boards have to demonstrate statistical and financial benefits, to justify the effort and expense of maintaining them. Most of the posters here would probably prefer to have productive participation, that contributes to the discussion in a more meaningful way. But people have to learn to walk by taking baby steps.

 

As to where the odd non-sequiturs are coming from ... most of them are copied and pasted from other replies. Sometimes, it's another reply earlier in the same thread, but that's rather obvious, and it may result in moderator action sometimes. So, they may be learning to copy replies from other threads. It's inevitable that these non-sequiturs may sometimes be inappropriate. To my mind, that's a clear indication that there is probably a language barrier contributing to this.

 

I'm not trying to justify these non-sequiturs. They're really a kind of spam. But I find that if I can understand the motivation, it helps me to be patient, and hopefully try to help them learn to participate more productively. Even if it was just to focus on real questions, that can lead to helpful answers.

Message 22 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?


@lacemaker3 wrote:

If I stand back, and try to view them with no preconception, they look like people are trying to participate in the conversation. Many of the people probably don't speak English as a first language, and that accounts for some of the apparent inappropriateness. 


I would love to think so - but these have all blown up in quantity just recently. There are many user IDs appearing - supposedly based in the US and most all consisting of several letters followed by either a hyphen or underscore and ending in a short string of digits. The replies are either vague or wildly inappropriate. When you do a text search for other occurrences of that exact phrase then you quickly see the collection of new user IDs all using it. Pick any of those throwaway IDs at random and view their replies left elsewhere and you will see that same assortment of maybe a dozen replies being used over and over.

 

Just for yucks I did a fresh search for "And I admire your tidy house" which turned up seven instances from different accounts over the past few days. This link should do the same search for you:

 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=%22And%20I%20admire%20your%20tidy%20ho...

 

So if you go to the bottom of that list of results you should see what looks to be the original appearance of that in a real reply from @mtgraves7984 back on March 16th of this year. This is where it first appeared: 

 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/Managed-Payments-forcing-sellers-out/m-p/31705722#M113974 

 

I see a whole boatload of new junk replies that came in overnight to most any thread I look at in the Selling or Shipping or Payments group. It would be good if Khoros could figure out what the heck is going on.

Message 23 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

I thought that myself when this first began to become really noticeable on the boards.  So I replied, and I was met with silence.  Nearly every time I checked, the posters were offline immediately after posting.  On the few occasions when they were still on-line and I replied, none ever responded. 

 

In short, I found no attempts at conversation or engagement.  These are adults, probably quite literate in their own language(s) and with fully developed social skills.  They know what conversation is, and they evidently are not seeking it.

 

Because I look at only a couple of boards, I didn't realize how extensive this is until  -justasprain-  started this thread.

 

=

Message 24 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

I wonder if they are here for the helpfuls and the badges like some sort of game? Create an account and see how many posts you can make and how many helpfuls you can give and receive in a certain amount of time. One with the most badges and helpfuls given and received wins the prize.

Message 25 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

And I'll add this to my previous post: 

 

When thesefully functioning adults are posting to a board such as Collectibles & Arts, they can see that the subject matter of a thread is a piece of pottery, silver, figurine, paperweight, carving, painting, mirror, whatever.   

 

If they truly cared to engage, they would check a My Language / Engish dictionary or an on-line translator to post things like, "That is pretty" or "I have seen those" or "Where did you find it?" or "That looks old" or "I like the colors" or suchlike in order to be part of a conversation about an object.  But they never do. 

 

 

=

Message 26 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?


@wesk_36 wrote:

"I applaud your decision and wish you well. And I admire your tidy house... wish I had one. Good luck."

 

This one-liner guy said that twice to different posters but where the tidy house came from, who knows? Maybe a mistranslated expression?


@wesk_36 , @itsjustasprain 

 

So I started this one??? Awww, mannnn! I'm so, so sorry, y'all...  SMH ☹️

 

I'd seen the 'tidy house' post and wondered WTH that one had come from! Reading now, it makes sense. 😆

Message 27 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

If anyone ever posts "And I like your tidy house" in reference to something I have posted, they need to get out immediately because they're obviously in the wrong house.  

Message 28 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

Dang. I wish the *reply all* podcast still existed. These guys would take on the weirdest tech questions about random stuff and drill down to find the origin and motivation behind the most inscrutable situations. In listening to the guys for years (before they got 'cancelled') I can assure you that there is ALWAYS A REASON for the bizzaro. 

It may be obtuse, but it definitely exists. 

 

They may be establishing their "handle" online for a completely different scam. Or they could be beta testing a bot for another off site scam. 

 

Or, as previously suggested, they could be getting points (Is this a thing? Really?) for Ebay clout. 

 

The weirdest thing is when they DO seem to match the topic...

Ughn. Weird. 

Message 29 of 91
latest reply

Re: What's with all the strange one-liner replies getting posted?

It's been my belief that these posts are from Sri Lankans (usually) who are somehow under the misinformation that, if they flood the boards with inane posts, they will be allowed to sell on eBay.  

Message 30 of 91
latest reply