# Calling People Stupid **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 13, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810 "2019-12-13T14:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/1 "2019-12-13T14:41:09Z")
Is this appropriate moderation? From this thread: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634302&page=2](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634302&page=2) Post that received the warning (#75): > [@Horrible Christmas movies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-christmas-movies/605636/75): > > Google barely existed in 2001 when the film was released, and these people would certainly not have a geocities webpage. So who’s the stupid one now? Warning (#88): > [@Horrible Christmas movies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-christmas-movies/605636/88): > > **[Moderating]** > How about “the one who just earned a Warning for insulting another poster”? I think it’s bad form to warn a poster for calling someone else stupid while backhandedly calling them stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/2 "2019-12-13T14:44:20Z")
[Par for the course.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2744558&postcount=26) ( **manhattan** was a mod at the time) That said, TPTB do tend go easier on newbies, which **Smid** is not. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/3 "2019-12-13T14:47:55Z")
Don’t think I could get upset about this one even if there were money in it for me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/4 "2019-12-13T15:32:42Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Par for the course.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2744558&postcount=26) ( **manhattan** was a mod at the time) > > That said, TPTB do tend go easier on newbies, which **Smid** is not. Yeah, but it always seemed to me that that snarky style of modding had died out. I agree it isn’t particularly insulting, but I do think mods should be held to, at minimum, the same standards as posters. And I don’t think a poster would be able to reply to a poster asking who was stupid by saying “you.” I’m fine with throwing a little snark into moderation occasionally. This isn’t a “quit having fun guys” post. Just not a fan of mods calling people stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/5 "2019-12-13T15:38:16Z")
Am I reading this right? In 2011, morbo called some fictional characters stupid. In 2019, smid called him stupid. Chronos moderated this with a little snark. I’m pretty okay with that moderation (although I probably would’ve done a note, not a warning). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/6 "2019-12-13T15:57:36Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I think it’s bad form to warn a poster for calling someone else stupid while backhandedly calling them stupid. Mods can call posters for trolling even though it’s forbidden for non-mods to do so. As far back as I remember, mods have been allowed to say things out loud that the rest of us can only think. That includes saying that something is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/7 "2019-12-13T16:18:02Z")
There’s nothing wrong with that moderation. It was good moderation. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/8 "2019-12-13T16:41:10Z")
I don’t see anything wrong with the moderator there, give it a rest. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/9 "2019-12-13T16:44:16Z")
Yeah, I thought it was OK moderation, too. That’s why people won’t become mods. They get picked on for every little thing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/10 "2019-12-13T18:21:49Z")
Looks Ok to me, sound moderation. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/11 "2019-12-13T20:31:39Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > {…} I think it’s bad form to warn a poster for calling someone else stupid while backhandedly calling them stupid. I concur, just straight-up call the warned poster stupid! They don’t the mods various types of jackboots for nothing. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/12 "2019-12-13T22:15:00Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Mods can call posters for trolling even though it’s forbidden for non-mods to do so. > > As far back as I remember, mods have been allowed to say things out loud that the rest of us can only think. That includes saying that something is stupid. Vulgar things too? Violent ones even? Where do you draw the line? Of course **Smid** deserved the warning but the way it was issued makes me feel the fight against ignorance made one step back here. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/13 "2019-12-14T03:12:06Z")
My mama always said, stupid is as stupid does. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/14 "2019-12-14T03:41:56Z")
Looks like a good moderation to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/15 "2019-12-14T06:02:45Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I think it’s bad form to warn a poster for calling someone else stupid while backhandedly calling them stupid. I’m sorry **Wrenching Spanners** , but I think this particular warning was quite tasteful. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/16 "2019-12-14T13:28:13Z")
Vigilantism may be popular in the West but I for one find it distasteful when mob justice is stirred and led by the sheriff himself. ---
**Author:** ![atimnie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atimnie/32/11_2.png) [@atimnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atimnie)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/17 "2019-12-14T15:49:17Z")
Was the mod wrong? Probably. Was that last comment a bit extreme? Definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/18 "2019-12-14T15:58:09Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Vulgar things too? Violent ones even? Where do you draw the line? > > Of course **Smid** deserved the warning but the way it was issued makes me feel the fight against ignorance made one step back here. I don’t know. Maybe the boards have changed since you joined. But nothing about that comment struck me as extreme or unusual. I’ve seen numerous mods call a poster stupid for being stupid. As I said, they can call a troll a troll and a jerk a jerk. Describing the offense has to be allowed. Nor do I think that slippery slope arguments apply. In the eighteen years I’ve been reading mods I’ve never seen behavior go beyond describing the offense. No name calling, no abuse. The line has always been apparent, and this doesn’t cross it. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/19 "2019-12-14T16:16:16Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Vigilantism may be popular in the West but I for one find it distasteful when mob justice is stirred and led by the sheriff himself. This post should consider decaf. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810/20 "2019-12-14T16:22:51Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > Don’t think I could get upset about this one even if there were money in it for me. Even if it was me I would almost appreciate the snark and learn from it more than some sugar-coated just-the-facts-mam kind of response or note. I wouldn’t want every moderation to be like this but in context and considering the players it may almost be picture perfect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-people-stupid/844810.md?page=2)