# "Banned" threads and Schadensfreude **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2002, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907 "2002-12-19T21:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/1 "2002-12-19T21:59:13Z")
It seems that every time someone is banned, we get a thread about them. Consider, for example the current [**WSLer** thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=151475) with almost a thousand views already. And, there’s seldom anything new to say about someone’s banning. Those of us who follow these threads are taking joy in the misfortune of others. We should be ashamed of ourselves. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/2 "2002-12-19T22:04:10Z")
Yes, you should. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/3 "2002-12-19T22:10:15Z")
I’m still wondering why Jack Dean Tyler was banned. He was circum…spect and his cutting posts snipped right to the end. sorry ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/4 "2002-12-19T22:10:33Z")
I’m usually curious as to why someone got banned. In the case you mention though - that guy was a dick, and that’s coming from someone who rarely ever notices a particular person’s “posting style.” I’m not ashamed at all to be curious as to what was his final straw. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/5 "2002-12-19T22:14:57Z")
Yeah, I also view these because I’m curious what got them chucked. I only feel any kind of positive emotion if it’s someone I previously noticed being a prick. I can only really think of one time that happened in recent memory. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/6 "2002-12-19T22:15:53Z")
So have any of you ever reported a post to a mod? Already did a search, couldn’t find a thread. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/7 "2002-12-19T22:16:02Z")
Well, I’m still fairly new here, and while I’m generally almost painfully polite, I do have a tendency every now and then to do/say something not quite in my nature. As such, I am somewhat afraid of inadvertently breaking some rule I have overlooked and becoming separated from my addictive SDMB habit. I too, have been quite curious, when it wasn’t excruciatingly obvious as to why someone was banned. I’m not looking for strict details, but I think it would be informative to list whether the offense fell into a certain category of behavior, so those of us who wish no harm may heed the example. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/8 "2002-12-19T22:16:19Z")
I’m ashamed I looked at this thread. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/9 "2002-12-19T22:17:24Z")
Why does reading a thread necessarily mean we’re taking joy in other people’s sorrow? I read that thread and it’s simply because I saw the thread title, though ‘That’s news to me’ and opened it. If I read a story in the newspaper about a housefire, that doesn’t mean I’m doing the equivalent of dancing on the cinders of the destroyed home. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/10 "2002-12-19T22:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > Those of us who follow these threads are taking joy in the misfortune of others. We should be ashamed of ourselves. ☹ Odd presumption, that - that the emotion of the persons reading threads about someone’s banning is joy. Cite, please? 😉 I would submit that the banning threads are analogous to television and news reports about a criminal trial. They get attention all out of proportion to their effect on the viewer/reader, but I don’t think the primary emotion is joy. I suspect it is more likely morbid fascination. But tell ya what, **december.** When I read the thread about your banning, I will assume a proper state of melancholy. 😃 Sua ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/11 "2002-12-19T22:21:48Z")
I read it out of mere curiosity. My reaction runs from disappointment to elation depending on the character of the departed. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/12 "2002-12-19T22:25:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*I’m ashamed I looked at this thread. \*\* So you should be, I haven’t even opened it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/13 "2002-12-19T22:30:58Z")
> [@](#): > > It seems that every time someone is banned, we get a thread about them. I look at it as a sort of funeral ceremony. A service for the dearly departed, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/14 "2002-12-19T22:38:07Z")
Anyway, “taking joy in the misfortune of others” is IMHO far from the worst manifestation of sinful human nature you’re likely to find in the BBQ Pit. Moral uplift doesn’t have much effect around here: Pitizens **like** our moral tone low. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/15 "2002-12-19T23:10:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > I do have a tendency every now and then to do/say something not quite in my nature. As such, I am somewhat afraid of inadvertently breaking some rule I have overlooked and becoming separated from my addictive SDMB habit. And that’s why we’ve been watching you very closely! :eek: OK just kidding. But unless your post is a grievous breach of the rules (see registration agreement and guidelines for posting FAQ in ATMB), you will receive several warnings before you are expelled to the outer darkness. Until you get your first warning there is no cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/16 "2002-12-19T23:11:52Z")
And if you _are_ banned, you can always e-mail an administrator and try to establish a truce that will allow your return to the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![ratty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@ratty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratty)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/17 "2002-12-19T23:29:27Z")
I read threads about someone being banned so I can try and figure out what not to do. I get the straight-up rules, and I understand “Don’t be a jerk.” But I think it’s all about context in the jerk situation. People can get pretty caustic in the Pit, but most stuff seems acceptable. (within reason) Despite the ‘preview’ function, we all say things we don’t really mean from time to time, and it’s a sign of an intelligent and mature poster when someone can apologize. But warning after warning means there’s a pattern to someone’s behavior, and I try to figure out that pattern so I can studiously avoid doing it. This is IMO the best place in the world for great discussion- I’d hate to lose my privileges here. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/18 "2002-12-20T01:03:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*Those of us who follow these threads are taking joy in the misfortune of others. We should be ashamed of ourselves. \*\* I admit to opening **pugluvr** ’s [thread in the Cafe](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=151299) so I could laugh at her for not being able to make decent cole slaw. (sigh) We ALL have SO much to be ashamed of… [sub](link fixed)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/19 "2002-12-20T01:07:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\* > (sigh) We ALL have SO much to be ashamed of… \*\* all right! who told???:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907/20 "2002-12-20T01:25:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Those of us who follow these threads are taking joy in the misfortune of others. We should be ashamed of ourselves. I have two things to say to that: “Yes” and “Why?” I’m not ashamed of being happy when bad things happen to people I don’t like. Especially when they’ve brought it on themselves (as is always the case when someone is banned here). Of course, there have been occasions when I’ve opened one of those threads to express _regret_ that the poster in question is gone. **Collounsbury** ’s departure would be one example, as would **Kirkland** ’s. Not that I thought either of those bannings was undeserved, but I did think it was a shame those posters couldn’t control themselves well enough to follow the rules of the board. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banned-threads-and-schadensfreude/143907.md?page=2)