# Bad Moderation in the "What happens politically if gas prices go through the roof?" thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-moderation-in-the-what-happens-politically-if-gas-prices-go-through-the-roof-thread/1028143>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [March 2, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-moderation-in-the-what-happens-politically-if-gas-prices-go-through-the-roof-thread/1028143 "2026-03-02T16:14:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 26

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-moderation-in-the-what-happens-politically-if-gas-prices-go-through-the-roof-thread/1028143/26 "2026-03-02T22:00:31Z")

</div>

> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Whereas I’m more of the mind once stated by @Aspenglow – just let it go for a bit, and then moderate when if and when it actually starts derailing the thread – which it very often will not because things get back on track all by themselves. Is that not a reasonable compromise?

And this continues to be my stance in moderation. Conversations naturally meander, and so long as they come back to the main point in a reasonable amount of time – I usually let it go for about 10 posts – then I think brief sidetracks are ok. I also prefer to moderate actual hijacks and not potential ones.

_That said_, we do have some perennial offenders, and we also have some folks who like to ride their hobby horses. I don’t disagree with clamping down on those more vigorously. Also, if there is a bright line violation such as I recently modded in this thread:

> [@United States and Israel are bombing Iran](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-states-and-israel-are-bombing-iran/1028071/328):
>
> So when’s Iran going to release the footage of Trump rapping underage girls? Now seems like the perfect time.

Then I’m going to go after it quickly to nip an obvious hijack in the bud.

I will say this is all harder than it looks, as expounded on by @ParallelLines. We do our best. Sometimes we jump too quick, sometimes too late, but we’re always trying to maintain balance as best we can.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-moderation-in-the-what-happens-politically-if-gas-prices-go-through-the-roof-thread/1028143)._