# Are Mods allowed to ignore Rules violations? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 12, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789 "2009-09-12T03:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/141 "2009-09-15T22:52:51Z")
> [@Elyanna](#): > > Oh, my, my. You really are a smart aleck. 😉 I am nothing if not assiduous in my punctilio regarding truth in advertising guidelines! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/142 "2009-09-15T23:22:07Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > At the usual spot–Occam’s Razor. Ockham’s Razor is not a spot. Rather than further cryptic responses, why not simply say what you meant to say about Carol Stream in plain English, without the metaphors and obscure references? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/143 "2009-09-15T23:35:02Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Rather than further cryptic responses, why not simply say what you meant to say about Carol Stream in plain English, without the metaphors and obscure references? NO. This thread had devolved into a “let’s pile on **Carol Stream** ” and I’ve said, three or four times, that THAT IS TO STOP. This is a thread about mods and rules violations. It is NOT a thread about **Carol Stream.** PERIOD. There are two directions to go here. One is to close the thread altogether. I’m not going to do that at the moment. However, the next person to make a comment about **Carol Stream** in this thread will receive two (not one, but TWO) Official Warnings: one for personal insults and one for deliberately ignoring a mod’s direct order. Now, for the record: **pseudotron ruber ruber** , there’s another thread on “why are threads closed” and comments on that topic belong there, not here, please. **Crazy Cat Lady** : I am sorry that the insulting remarks you mention weren’t caught. I’ve said often, mods can’t be everywhere, we can’t read every thread. Especially in long threads, if an alleged insult gets reported, we pay attention. Sometimes, it’s clear and we don’t need to read more than the one post, and we issue a warning. Other times, we have to read back several posts to see what’s going on. But there are dozens of threads every day, with hundreds of posts. We just don’t have the time or staff to check each one. Frankly, neither do we want to. We rely, heavily, on y’all to report offenses or suspected offenses so that we can deal with them. **Liberal** et al: one reason that we shy from hypotheticals is that so much is situational. A person with a long track record of personal insults will be treated different from, say, a newcomer to the boards with only a few posts, who doesn’t know the rules yet. An insult that we saw wouldn’t go unmentioned, but the severity of the moderator comment would often depend on many factors. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/144 "2009-09-15T23:38:04Z")
Deleted. I saw Dex’s post after I hit submit and even though I didn’t violate the letter of Dex’s post, I inadvertently violated the spirit. Apologies Dex. ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/145 "2009-09-15T23:43:51Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > There are two directions to go here. One is to close the thread altogether. I’m not going to do that at the moment. However, the next person to make a comment about **Carol Stream** in this thread will receive two (not one, but TWO) Official Warnings: one for personal insults and one for deliberately ignoring a mod’s direct order. I hear this in Billy Mays’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/146 "2009-09-16T11:52:42Z")
Personally, I hear it in the voice of a young hysterical mother who realises she’s set a load of ridiculous conditions on her children and has no idea where to turn next. “RIGHT! No pocket money until you’re 27…and you have to go to bed just after you’ve got up in the morning…!” Uh oh. Is that a wrong hypothetical or an ok one? Did I directly or indirectly offend someone? Seriously, this place is starting to get very complicated… ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/147 "2009-09-16T18:21:04Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > **Crazy Cat Lady** : I am sorry that the insulting remarks you mention weren’t caught. I’ve said often, mods can’t be everywhere, we can’t read every thread. Especially in long threads, if an alleged insult gets reported, we pay attention. Sometimes, it’s clear and we don’t need to read more than the one post, and we issue a warning. Other times, we have to read back several posts to see what’s going on. But there are dozens of threads every day, with hundreds of posts. We just don’t have the time or staff to check each one. Frankly, neither do we want to. We rely, heavily, on y’all to report offenses or suspected offenses so that we can deal with them. But waitaminute–you _quoted_ the post she’s referring to. Are you in the habit of quoting posts you don’t read? Especially when you’re handing out a warning for the post responding to the one you’re quoting? I mean, you had them both right in front of you, but only one is considered insulting and gets a warning? Or you didn’t read the original post, the one that provoked the insult you replied to? Because it seems to me that’s not a whole lot of research you needed to do there–it was all right there for you to quote. So the question remains, was the post that **CCL** got a warning for her response to an insulting post or no? I’d really appreciate a clarification on that. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/148 "2009-09-16T21:35:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > This post got me my first official warning on these boards in nine years. Seriously?? Wow, that sucks. ☚ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789/149 "2009-09-17T16:50:09Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Seriously?? Wow, that sucks. ☹ Yup. Well, at least I know people are actually reading my posts now. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mods-allowed-to-ignore-rules-violations/509789.md?page=7)