Poe's law

alternative Poe's Law

1. The observation that, on the Internet, without a clear indication of the author's intent, it is impossible to tell the difference between sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.

   If you accept Poe's Law, you hold that religious believers are indistinguishable from their parodies.

   2013, Scott F. Aikin, Robert B. Talisse, Why We Argue (And How We Should) […] , Routledge, →ISBN, page 130

   2 more examples

   But Poe's Law isn't only useful as a defense against pearl-clutching reactions. It's also a diagnosis of exactly how the troll mentality has weakened internet culture. […] But because the internet has changed in innumerable ways since 2005, expanding and accelerating all the while, Poe's Law applies to more and more internet interactions.

   2017 June 5, Emma Grey Ellis, “Can't Take a Joke? That's Just Poe's Law, 2017's Most Important Internet Phenomenon”, in WIRED, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2018

   It's not just digital media tools that amplify the ambivalence of humor online. The familiar combination of context collapse and Poe's Law is equally impactive.

   2018, Whitney Phillips, Ryan M. Milner, The Ambivalent Internet […] , John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 121

1. Alternative letter-case form of Poe's law.