This is an excellent point. I am ashamed I did not think of it first.
If there aren’t any lists, how come whenever I run into a mod IRL, they’re always humming this tune?
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found
I’ve got a little list — I’ve got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground
And who never would be missed — who never would be missed!
I have a guess about this. As a tactic, one that I used to see among children (when I was ever around children), it can be useful to complain to the parent about how you are always unfairly punished by that parent due to perfectly harmless behavior, to disguise your expectation to perform behavior that you know is over the line. A wise and calm parent will not, of course, fall for this, but many parents in habitual stress or guilt or something, might refrain from said punishment, maybe just because they are tired of arguing.
In short, the behavior I am seeing from the poster in question is childish, both in its intent and in its transparency.
On the subject of reporting posts, I suspect my “success” rate in reporting posts is less than 50%, success being defined as something was really wrong with the post and the mods decide to take action. I don’t think I report very often, which is apparently just as well.
For me, not all, but some “success rate” is me reporting some of those scamming posts that show up on occasion. A brand new poster posting, “Check out this website for the best NFTs!” That kinda stuff (I made that one up but hope you all get the idea.)
Those aside, I have argued with the mods about their moderation of me more than a few times. I think they were all resolved well (with the caveat I never “won” one although I think I might have come close(ish) once).
Just to be clear and fair to @Saint_Cad, is the nature of your complaint primarily about the request for more “considered” flags, the moderation in the cited thread, or the concern that you’re getting some “dark moderation”?
For the first, well, I think that’s been addressed, and I’ll admit to as a poster having also been at times excessively eager to “head off” what -I- thought was heading to a hijack. But as I’ve learned, not every moment of snark or cheap one-shots are a threat, unless in a forum where they’re specifically not allowed. When they take over though…
For the second, again I have sympathy, because as a poster I’m often too busy thinking about how -I- would solve the same sort of problem to really consider what the OP was asking. I’m not proud of it, and heck, I just did it in a Cafe Society thread. It’s something almost all of us do, but if it starts to take over the thread, then yes, a mod note is appropriate.
For the third, What_Exit has been very careful to clearly describe what is on your record. And equally clearly, the moderation of the cited thread was based on your actions in that specific thread.
Last, and with my complete sympathy as a poster I understand that it’s easy to get emotionally involved in an argument of any sort. And the last dozen or so posts seem to indicate that others feel that you may be emotionally invested in this argument. This is not to say the same thing as saying it’s childish - but it may be making it hard to step away and consider what everyone else is trying to tell you.
Something I was considering when I was reading (again) the TOS, FAQ, and Forum rules (this is in the FAQ)
The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.
Being emotionally involved means that this matters to you. Which is a good thing. But it’s just as important to be respectful of the right of the others (and depending on the thread, the OP’s stated requests) to have their own opinions and preferences. Well, unless it’s the Pit. 
Be clear not asking for moderation, but I believe I started the whole thing by asking to OP of that thread to please not do this. Early in the thread.
The OP was asking for a list of Trumps faults he could use to discourage his grand daughter from marrying a Trumper.
I knee jerked my opinion that it would be a mistake.
So @Saint_Cad, if I set you off and caught you a warning, I apologize.
(Dark moderation? Eeeek!)
It is the last one. I know other non-progressive posters have complained about the perceived tone of the Board for a while but I’ve thought the Mods were doing a good job at that but lately … it’s hard to explain. The Board seems to be like high school but without the good parts. The popular kids get a pass … well kind of. It’s not that they are not held accountable, it’s just that they get a little more latitude than the rest of us. And that’s not really a mod issue. I see many times here where a user uses disingenuous tactics in their posts. If popular the other members give it a pass while unpopular member get called out for it almost immediately. And the bullying. Look at Roderick_Femm’s post above. I think it is being a jerk comparing me to a child but I don’t dare report it for an objective review based on what What_Exit told me and it uses enough weasel words that it would not be considered “attacking the poster”. And what about what Cervaise said. I see that in The Pit, is it appropriate here? Again, can’t report it since I have too many failed reports. If these were directed at YOU outside of the Pit, would you consider it bullying? Just based on the way it is written?
“Nope, not attacking YOU Saint Cad. Just your behavior.”
Yes, I went off the rails in that thread and was rightfully modded for it. But it was over the course of days and I an firmly convinced if I were one of the popular kids here, I would have gotten a note in the first day or two telling me to drop it. We see that all of the time. When I asked why they let it go until it was warning level, I was told because they (it was in the mod loop) can and get labeled as argumentative by the mod team.
With What_Exit, we have been told if in doubt, report. I have done that many times and if the mods disagree I said OK, just reporting it like you say to and they give me a thumbs up. Props to Puzzlegal who explained what here expectations were for reportable offenses. I personally disagree because I’d like to have a safe-space on this Board and not have to deal with posts about Trump in a thread in Cafe Society on coffee cake recipes, but if she says this is the standard to use to report I will respect that. Oh yeah, that’s another frustrating part of all this … it’s getting to the point on this Board that even avoiding P&E I can’t avoid the Trump talk. That is why I (apparently) overreport it. I’m not MAGA but can’t y’all use a filter and realize that we don’t need an anti-Trump staement in unrelated threads? Some of us want to use this site to escape from reality for a few minutes.
Y’all have called me paranoid and I am. And this is a message board not a place of employment. But in my experience in the business world, the messages I have been given over the last couple days would be veiled hints that I am not long for the job; we are dotting the t’s and crossing the i’s.
Again paranoia (which is not always wrong). That’s why I’m comparing this to a PIP. In a couple of days I am suspended for arguing. Easy to justify given my history. The a second mid-May with notification to you all that it i going around the mod loop. Then the ban
I know you walked that back, but I consider you one of the fairest thoughtful mods here, so that doesn’t help.
If I am banned, then I can’t come back and post, “I saw it coming.” LOL
There are two parts to this thread. One, pointing out what are IMO inconsistencies I see on the Board. Two, that perhaps those inconsistencies work in favor of those that closely follow the culture here and against those that don’t. Not accusing it of being intentional, but everyone is human and maybe it occurs subconciously for some mods.
Like I said above, if that’s the policy here I will respect it and stop reporting every one-off. But understand that some of us are tired of hearing about Trump 24/7 and don’t want to him dragged into a thread on Packard cars even as a joke or one-off drive-by comment about an orange Lada.
Can you offer any useful advice?
You’re obsessed with supposed crosses people get up on.
This is telling…
As a poster, i support this sentiment, and urge other posters to keep that in mind. Just because i don’t think that’s a reasonable standard to hold the whole board to as a moderator does not mean i think it’s helpful to bring up Trump at every turn.
And, perhaps influenced by this thread, I did just moderate what felt like an extremely hijacky hijacky about Trump.
I agree and sympathize with both Saint Cad’s feelings, and Puzzlegal’s agreement, but it’s her second line I want to repeat.
Just because i don’t think that’s a reasonable standard to hold the whole board to as a moderator does not mean i think it’s helpful to bring up Trump at every turn.
As I’m learning the ropes, there’s a fine line between what a perfect world would be for just me, myself and I and what is comfortable to everyone. In general, I’m being encouraged to moderate just enough. And that means tolerating perspectives, pot-shots, silliness, monomaniacal posters, sealions, and all the other flavors of minor, petty irritations that might creep in to even the best posters on an off day. In general (pointing to the whole of ATMB posts) the Mods are on any given day going to far or not enough, creating a compromise that doesn’t please anyone 100%. And that’s probably for the best, sadly.
Thus, when @Roderick_Femm characterized your behavior as childish, I expressed my disagreement in my post. I didn’t slap mod color on it and try to shame them, I disagreed, made my contrasting point and moved on. I’m really trying to not look at it as what’s best for winning my point, but to support the community having a civil discourse. And I believe that the other mods, whom may all have their quirks, are honestly attempting to do the same thing. It’s certainly possible that on any given day, we can be over-eager or mis-interpret, but I have every reason to believe that the intent is ensure a degree of fair play - it’s one of the things I was asked about very clearly when I was interviewed.
So again, I am not calling you paranoid, I am asking you to consider that in this case, What_Exit looked at what was going on in light of recent events and considered that you were, perhaps, affected by the recent criticism (again, which is not the same as paranoia). I’ll quote the private message as shared again:
You are spending your energy on the first half, but to me the last line is even more important. What_Exit said that you’re a good poster, even if you create problems. That’s a hell of a compliment. It’s also a good sign of good faith on their part - they aren’t disregarding your positive elements in bringing up their concerns.
And although this thread is mostly about the modding, it is also about the culture the members bring to the Board. Maybe I have my old man readers on and I am misremembering, but in the past Roderick_Fenn’s and Cervaise’s comments would have been called out by the community as inappropriate for the thread/forum. Now those comments are condoned. I suspect that for many users here, comments like that are not so normalized outside the Pit that they don’t even see them anymore. Yet posters bemoan that we don’t have reasoned discourse anymore. That is why. Giving an exception to Trump thread (very passionate) and The Pit, are those the sort of comments SD member want to see in a discussion? Or maybe since it is directed at an unpopular member it’s OK but if they said those same things to a popular member a dozen of you would call them out on it. But regardless of those questions and specific to this thread, I feel I cannot report them as per What_Exit and my over-reporting issue. Is that fair?
I’m going to disagree of course. While I have far less tenure as a poster than many, I read a lot of old threads, and followed various greatest hits of the board via Threadspotting from the previously published columns. Overall, I believe there’s a lot less tolerance of direct attacks, snide snark, and borderline insults in the past. No, of course it’s not “gone”, but it’s greatly muted to what I saw prior to me being willing to creating an account.
Even in my less-than-a-week tenure, I’ve handled a flag on questionable poster language, and I took it seriously. It’s not being ignored, trust me. And I won’t bother to count how many threads we have in ATMB about how excessively tolerant the Mods are being on language that other posters feel should be banned, how the Pit should be closed, or how “conservative” viewpoints are being silenced.
Everyone has a different line they want drawn, and therefore it’s useful to keep the lines a bit fuzzy. Each forum further defines how they want the lines drawn, from quite loose to quite tight. But there’s always going to be some friction. And as for perception of being attacked, we mods cannot read the minds of you or any other poster. Things that you feel are an attack may be nothing more than a disagreement, perhaps even strenuous disagreement. In the end though that’s similar to what you’re doing in this thread. This is all time that the moderators could be spending checking flags, having a meal, or even getting to read threads and post jokes, but several of us are replying to you and your concerns.
I assure you, if you flag a post that is over-the-line for the specific forum (and note, it’s P&E and GD, and somewhat FQ that are the least tolerant) I see nothing in WE’s stated, direct-to-you response that makes me question their honesty in responding to your flags. But I will note your behavior in repeatedly questioning their motivations and honesty, while disregarding the opinions of other mods and posters in this thread are rather similar to the behavior that got you noted in the instigating thread.
Which again, is the straight up the concern that What_Exit and Aspenglow have told you upfront:
So this should answer your concerns on shadow or dark moderation. They are being open in their concerns, and the time and energy taken to address them, when you in turn, are openly doubting or ignoring their responses to you. This is plain old moderation, nothing in the dark, nothing secret, just honest concerns and some frustration.
I posted and you didn’t reply, did you not see it? is this because I am not one of the cool posters? is this fair?
should I start a thread about it? Or would that be paranoid?
naw. I’m unsubscribing to this thread instead.
This Board doesn’t have to follow wrongful dismissal laws. If the whole crew of mods wanted to get rid of you why wouldn’t they just say, “You’re a jerk” and ban you?
FWIW, there is no “upper management.” At least, not in the sense that they would know who you are, or care. The structure of the mod team is almost completely flat. Ed Zotti is our boss, but he only really puts his hand in when there’s confusion among the mod staff about how to moderate some novel situation, or if there’s some legal concern that involves the board. I can almost guarantee you that Ed has no idea who you are. Above him is whoever currently owns the Straight Dope media, and AFAIK, they don’t even know this board exists, let alone have any opinions on individual posters.
The only people who could possibly know enough about you to want to ban you are the same mod staff who have been telling you over and over that we are not planning on banning you. Because if we were thinking of banning you, WE WOULD TELL YOU! We would be absolutely crystal clear that you had broken rules x, y, and z, that you’ve been given n number of second chances, and that if you do <thing we’ve repeatedly told you not to do> one more time, we’re going to boot you.
This would not be something you “sense,” or an “impression” you get, this would be an email, in your inbox, explicitly telling you you’re on your last chance. You have not received that email. We are not secretly discussing banning you. You received two, unrelated mod notes somewhat close to each other. And that’s it.
I can vouch for that. I’ve never gotten an email and I’m not banned.
I’ve gotten lots of emails, but I’ve never been in a band.
Also, I’m pretty sure none of you are Dean Wormer.
I’m curious what the OP would consider a satisfactory answer to this?
What would make them think they have been heard and they are right?