A different thing are conversation back and forths: each comment is in a new branch of the comment tree.

  • snek_boi@lemmy.mlOP
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    1 year ago

    My post tried to convey that most people do this:

    [Original post by OP about COVID-19] Comments:

    • User A: "COVID-19’s symptoms can vary from person to person, and the vast majority of people do not present life-threatening symptoms. This can make it easy to conclude that COVID-19 cannot possibly kill someone [edit: here’s a source that shows that many people actually believe COVID-19 cannot possibly kill someone: statistics.net]. This is an unfortunate situation, because trusting the science can lead people to use appropriate masks and reduce its spread. [edit: added the word “appropriate” thanks to User C]
      • User B: “Really? I don’t know anyone who believes COVID-19 cannot possibly kill someone”
        • User A: “I responded to you by adding a source to my original comment through an edit”
      • User C: “My niece used a cloth mask in the Prague metro and still got COVID-19. I suppose the type of mask matters.”
        • “You’re right! I’ll edit my original comment to reflect that.”
      • User D: “I’m sure you won’t reply to this comment if I say that I don’t accept science.”

    and they don’t generally do this:

    [Original post by OP about COVID-19] Comments:

    • User A: “COVID-19’s symptoms can vary from person to person.”
    • User A: “Many people think COVID-19 cannot possibly kill someone.”
      • User A: “My source for this is statistics.net
      • User B: “Really? I don’t know anyone who believes COVID-19 cannot possibly kill someone”
        • User A: “I responded to you by adding a source to my original comment through another comment”
    • User A: “Mask usage helps reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
      • User C: “My niece used a cloth mask in the Prague metro and still got COVID-19. I suppose the type of mask matters.”

    The point is that we usually don’t split our points into many comments of the same level. Levels here refer to this:

    • Level 1 of a comment tree
      • Level 2 of a comment tree
      • Level 2 of a comment tree
        • Level 3 of a comment tree
    • Level 1 of a comment tree

    When I say that we take that for granted, I mean that I don’t see people splitting up their comments in the same level. Neither do I see people talking about splitting up their comments. In other words, neither in practice nor in discourse do people split up their comments.

    Edit: Rewrite for clarity

    • JesterRaiin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You may be an exception, posting each part of what you wish to say in a different comment.

      I’m not and I have no idea what you’re talking about, since you edited the thread and I have no recollection of what it stated originally.

      • snek_boi@lemmy.mlOP
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        1 year ago

        Yeah. Sorry for the lack of clarity. I edited the comment. I hope it makes sense now