# A possible solution to the recent uprising. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 24, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-possible-solution-to-the-recent-uprising/693937 "2014-07-24T14:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 122
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-possible-solution-to-the-recent-uprising/693937/122 "2014-07-27T19:51:31Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Scroll back in time… Giraffe’s link goes to page 1 of the pit. So I scrolled down, listed all threads from the beginning and jumped to the easy-to-reach page numbered 51. It covered the 4/24/2008-5/20/2008 era of paint-peeling attacks, blistering criticism and pointed rebuttals. Among those mentioned in the pit titles were the members/guests Boyo Jim (?!), 2.5 inches, lekatt, Shagnasty, Shodan, and of course Der Trihs. It wouldn’t be the pit without Der. Also, the politicians/celebrities John McCain, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, James Carville, Paul Krugman and one President Dumbass were listed. The word “Fuck” came up 17 times in the titles. I counted 10 threads out of a total of 150 directed at TPTB, such as they are. Here they are: > **[Homophobia in Great Debates - Officially endorsed by SDMB moderators?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465237)** > > I have never seen a single NSFW warning on a link that goes to an openly heterosexual-oriented site with advertising, but 5-4-Fighting thought that a warning should be included for a link to a site that went to an openly gay-oriented site with... > **[Has the SDMB lost critical mass?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443143)** > > I used to come to this site all the time. I used to post all day. Now I come about once a day and stay for five minutes or so. Part of this is subjective, I’m sure. All the debates to be debated have been debated ad nauseum in Great Debates, for... > **[tomndebb, bring it!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464253)** > > Just kidding, as this isn’t a pitting, but simply a question for the mods about the GD “attack the post, not the poster” rule. In this thread, RedFury stated: While it’s a generic attack on FinnAgain’s posts about a specific subject, it still... > **[Enough with the election stuff! (Mild, of little consequence)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466642)** > > Seriously, guys, this board is over-run with political threads at the moment, and I for one am thoroughly sick of it. I know, you’ve got an election coming up, and that’s great- but every other thread in GD doesn’t need to be on what Hilary said... > **[One month later-a follow up on SDMB progress](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465716)** > > Back on 3.24.08, Ed Zotti identified things to be done under the thread title ‘Improving the SDMB’. Let’s review and see how much has been accomplished since March 24th. With no firm commitment, it’s hard to say if anything has been done or not. ... > **[Take down manhattan's "politics in GQ" sticky.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464575)** > > One of the two manhattan stickies in GQ is this one. It should be taken down if you’re not going to use it. In this thread, The Controvert made this post. I reported it when it came up on a “new posts” list. Gfactor posted next and made no public... > **[2 questions about Wee Bairn banning](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=468354)** > > This is not a pitting but it was asked that discussion go here, so here is where I’ll put it. First question, did we know any of the socks? Second question: I made a very similar statement upthread from Wee Bairn. Did you perform whatever kind of... > **[Question for the mods](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466884)** > > It’s clear you don’t want me to ask this in ATMB, so I’ll ask it here. Does \[post=9763876\]this post\[/post\] belong in the pit? Is it really out of place in ATMB? If so, could you explain why? Thanks much. > **[300 seconds?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=466692)** > > Am I doing something wrong? I just resubscribed to the dope after a six month hiatus. Now I have to wait 300 seconds between search requests? Thats five minutes! I thought perhaps after six months, subscription fees, and seemingly more advertising... > **[Is that a "Banned" I see](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=465854)** > > under Night Rabbit’s name? Not that I’m complaining, I’m just curious. Then I went to bed. **And on Sunday he rested, no wait…** Ok, so what’s the baseline? I’ve alleged a shift in Pit behavior but I should note that Giraffe hasn’t disagreed with that nor have TPTB complained about those changes. Rather Marley et al maintained that the level of obnoxiousness directed at the mods was unacceptable, which is an absolute standard. Nonetheless, I’m interested in whether my recollections are supportable so I’ll include a control group. **Control group** Page 233 covers the 4/21/2001-5/8/2001 golden era of astute observation and calm expression in the BBQ Pit. There were 18 fucks, or actually 20 fucks but one title had 3 of them. Interesting thread titles include, [What have you been called on this board?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69263), [When Czarcasm Becomes Invective](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69263), [Where has all the decorum gone?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=68356) (about retail interaction). I could only find 3 threads that referenced moderators (judging from titles and mouse-overs). Here they are: > **[quoting alphagene from "im a ghost"](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69713)** > > Alphagene wrote: \[not op\] i would like to start this on a personal note; thank you for closing the “im a ghost” thread, people had stopped caring about the subject and gone off posting something totally unrelated. i had tried ending the thread... > **[Lynn Bodoni, get in here!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69221)** > > So I can tell you how brilliant an idea it was to change the status on all of Mark’s sock puppets to “Just another Serlin”. Kudos, applause, a box of chocolates, a dozen long stemmed roses, and a tickertape parade down main street. \[sub\]You didn’t... > **[When Czarcasm Becomes Invective](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=68861)** > > I remember my first encounter with you, back when you were Slythe. I was almost brand new, and had opened a thread debating whether atheism is a religion. I remember how you came crashing in, announcing that if you were to encounter God, you would... The first deployed sarcasm against the moderator Alphagene who had written to the OP the following: > [@](#): > > And I’ll be free to believe that you just like seeing your name on this message board and watching people respond to you. So much so that you post gibberish along with an egotistical, condescending persona just to try to get a rise out of people. Yup, that was written by a moderator. Nobody but the OP seemed to mind. The thread contained 20 posts, all taking the side of the mods except for the OP himself. The second was a Valentine to Lynn Bodini for changing, “…the status on all of Mark’s sock puppets to “Just another Serlin””. The third involved Czarcasm, written by a former but highly prolific poster. Hey, I just report 'em. The first 3 posts not by the OP took the mod’s side. The OP then decided to let things slide in post 6. Czarcasm comes in to note that it’s his first pit thread (and it won’t be his last, bwahahaha). Czarcasm and the OP then discuss the existence or non-existence of magic(k). Post 32 was interesting: > [@When Czarcasm Becomes Invective](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-czarcasm-becomes-invective/63345/32): > > Well, let us just say that I place more emphasis on respecting the clearly expressed intent of my conversational partners than you. The OP in question was designed to encourage a particular mode of discourse, one which has been seen many times before in _Great Debates_. It was not designed to open a debate about the validity of a particular religious belief. > > If one felt a great desire to initiate such a discussion, one might have opened a new thread and posted a link inviting participation therein. That is one alternative to hijacking a thread with an attack tangential to the OP. I enjoy a spirited debate. I relish a critical examination of ideas. But I also value civil exchange, which requires (among other things) a certain respect for what the other person wants from the conversation. That was directed at another poster, not the OP. Pretty civil stuff. In the pit! Admittedly that contribution was by an usually thoughtful poster. Anyway, yeah, there was a shift in tone. I may have miscounted but by my estimate the score is 10-0. Those wishing to chum through the 10 mod-related threads from 2008 are welcome. The above analysis most probably contains unintentional inaccuracies. Note for example that I didn’t dig into the 2008 mod related threads. I welcome further systematic investigation. * * * What _caused_ this shift? Hard to say, but I see it as a natural evolution: poster obnoxiousness and inaccuracy is inversely proportional to accountability. Also Gresham’s law: voluminous bad posting drives out the good. Those who argue for tolerance generally don’t like to repeat their point or their case a thousand times, unlike the meisters of snark. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-possible-solution-to-the-recent-uprising/693937)._