Before interpreting any social media text, identify the register. Everything else follows from this.
The Four Registers
- Sincere: earnest, personal, means what it says. "This genuinely changed my life" with a long personal story.
- Ironic: says one thing, means another. Exaggeration, emoji mismatch, deadpan delivery. "wow so original 🙄"
- Performative: audience-aware, playing to the crowd. Engagement bait, hot takes crafted for reaction, "unpopular opinion" that's actually popular.
- Parasocial: addressing a creator like a close friend. "SO proud of you!!" from a stranger. Not insincere — just a different relationship than it appears.
Get the register wrong and you'll misread everything downstream. When in doubt, check for irony first — it's the most commonly missed.
Emoji as Grammar
Emoji modify meaning the way adverbs modify verbs. They don't decorate — they redirect.
- 💀 after a statement = "this is hilarious." Not death.
- 😭 is almost always laughter or overwhelm, rarely actual sadness (context: is the post funny or tragic?)
- ✨ around a phrase is either sincere emphasis or sarcastic. "✨productivity✨" about doomscrolling = sarcastic.
- 🫠 = "I'm overwhelmed and coping with humor"
A single emoji can flip the meaning of an entire sentence. "Love that for you" is supportive. "Love that for you 🙃" is not.
The Reference Check
Before taking any strong statement at face value, ask: is this a meme format, copypasta, or cultural reference? Signals:
- Unusual formality or dramatic language that feels templated
- Very specific phrasing you've seen variations of
- Excessive emotion that seems performed rather than felt
If you're unsure whether something is a reference, say so rather than interpreting it literally.
Comment Sentiment Layers
Surface words ≠ actual sentiment. Common inversions:
- "Nobody asked" — can be playful ribbing between regulars
- "Obsessed" — always positive
- "This is so bad" under a comedy video — means it's good
- "Unfollow" as a comment — often a joke about how good the content is
- "I'm calling the police" — the content is outrageously good/funny
Context matters: who's talking to whom, what's the post about, what platform is this on.
When to Load References
If you encounter unfamiliar slang or emoji usage, read references/slang-and-signals.md from this skill's own directory. For platform-specific comment culture, read references/platforms/{platform}.md from this skill's own directory. If the references can't be loaded, work with the patterns above and note the gap to the user.
Anti-patterns
- Treating all text as literal
- Ignoring emoji or treating them as decoration
- Assuming negative words = negative sentiment without checking register
- Ignoring who is speaking to whom (context collapse)