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[–] Vheissu_ 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Here is a theoretical example to drive the point home:

Say someone submits a news article titled: The NSA is spying on civilians

A comment without a sarcasm marker:

I don't see the big issue, if you have nothing to hide, then does it matter the NSA are spying on you? It's not like the government would ever use this information against anyone anyway. And if you want privacy, don't go on the internet or use your phone or any activity they might be able to log.

See the issue there? You don't know if the commenter is legitimately being serious or sarcastic. Adding a "/s" to the end will probably save the commenter a world of downvotes by showing they don't agree and they're trying to make light of the situation, sort of.

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[–] Ralph_Malph 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I have to ask -- is this an actual comment taken from somewhere? If so, was it actually sarcastic?

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[–] Vheissu_ ago 

Haha, no. I made that comment up. However, I have actually seen people post things like that before though. Especially when the whole Snowden situation was fresh and people had conflicting views on Snowden and the NSA's activities.