Harmless joke vs. heartfelt satire - difference?

It's a classic to be sure; people not understanding or getting the joke. I, myself, am quite a fan of saracasm. So, it's only natural that that walks hand in hand with satire and the rest of its ilk. I have had the misfortune of people failing to get the joke and thus being affronted and more often than not, wanting some type of retribution.

The way I see it, is that this situation is similar to trolling. Trolls intentionally stir things up and drop comments to achieve this goal. However, the main difference would be that people's everyday writing may supposed to be funny, but only ends in someone's raised hackles. Stahlman's creation and use of the smiley emoticon provided a needed service that continues to this day. The thread of discussion and the disemination of ideas was able to contine without people ripping each other to shreds over a flat joke. Then again, I believe that the use of the smiley has changed somewhat. People nowadays use smileys in chat rooms and various networking posts in order to represent happiness or something that is more obvious a joke.

Unfortunately, I also agree with the second quote above. Have the fun of sarcasm and the rest is never actually knowing whether someone is serious or not. I'd like to think it all adds up to the mystery of individual people (and subsequently life); I can freely admit that there are things that come out of my mouth that I'm not really sure whether I mean them or not until after they've been said. I find it discouraging, almost detestable that there are increasing moments when I must explain to others what it is I'm joking or referencing about. I know I'm scatterbrained and that my mind has the tendency to jumps tracks seemingly without purpose from one thing to the next, but come on! I don't want to lose what little mystery we have yet to destroy in today's world.

I suppose that it all comes down to society's expectations and individual preferences. I'd much rather be an autonomous being than to conform to that which provides little room for humor. Smileys were great, as is the subsequent and on-going evolution of them, but does anyone else think that maybe people have simply lost a bit of the ability to read and discern tone of voice for themselves?

Alright, you've been a good reader and listened to my prattling on, so I'll take ya back now. Just remember, I own the PORTAL! >_^