The following is a Public Service Announcement in an effort to preserve my own sanity.

In the Club threads, I've been seeing a lot of improper usage of the <strike> HTML tag. And when I say "improper", I mean really annoying uses of it. It's being used in instances that make no sense to strike the text at all. For example, "Here's that link to the thread with the information you need. <strike>I'm really happy I saved it.</strike>" The writer then proceeded to cross out the second sentence, and I'm like, WHY?

It was later explained to me that it's common practice on Tumblr to use the STRIKE tag for asides and other comments not part of the main point. Okay, this explains why I'm seeing it so frequently.

BUT IT'S WRONG.

Seriously, people. It's just wrong. This is what parentheses are for! (You've seen them before, right?)

The proper usage of text-striking is when crossing off an inappropriate statement in a way that is funny. As if you were writing a letter, got in a mood to rant, and wrote something a bit mean or saucy. You'd cross it out with your pen and keep writing, trying desperately to maintain your etiquette. It's an understated way to express you're frustrated but you recognize it as a bit rude. Kind of like expressing and not expressing your true feelings at the same time.

Here are a few examples to reiterate my point:

IMPROPER: I have to walk the neighbor's dog. <strike>After I finish my homework.</strike>

PROPER: I have to walk the neighbor's dog (after I finish my homework.)

ALSO PROPER: I have to walk the neighbor's dog again. <strike>I hate that thing.</strike>

IMPROPER: We're out of milk. <strike>I drink a lot of milk.</strike>

PROPER: We're out of milk. (I drink a lot of milk.)

ALSO PROPER: We're out of milk. <strike>Because my stupid brother is a freaking elephant.</strike> Because my brother got thirsty.

Please use strikeouts to make a funny point, not as an aside. Please use parentheses for comments and asides. So sayeth the Book of Zoe.

Final Note: I realize some of you may disagree with me. That's okay, because a lot of people do agree with me, and we are all entitled to our own opinions. I fully realize there's no actual "correct" or "incorrect" as far as STRIKE usage. I was simply hoping to propagate traditional usage, and debunk trendy-but-nonsensical (in my opinion) usage.

Thank you for listening. That is all.