Until he went off the rails and begged for a suspension, the allegation was merely trolling.
I already said I wouldn’t use that tactic again. Nothing changed, one new mod (me) use a questionable method to determine if a poster was a troll.
Where is that allegation made? I searched the thread for “troll” and it came up zero.
You do know we get flags? That is how most moderator action is started.
Before it is asked, flags and who did the flagging will not be shared by the moderator staff.
It would have been against the rules for another poster to make a public allegation of trolling. Such reports are best made to the moderators via flags.
Pretty clear case of Suicide By Mod. He literally begged to be suspended/banned.
Can you share which post was flagged?
The purpose of the Mod’s question was to give the poster a chance to validate himself or apologize and thus avoid a warning or worse. He was actually doing him a favor as I see it.
Nevertheless, I’ll answer your question by saying that a Mod should be able to ask for clarification/validation for decision making purposes. The poster, of course, can decline to do so, but the results of his refusal might not be to his liking.
I don’t think I’m suppose to.
I can say a flag was for his general posting in the entire thread not actually a specific post. (had to edit, reread and my meaning was unclear)
Warnings aren’t always for 1 post or 1 rule.
Post reports are confidential, so we will not share which post was flagged.
I’m with Jasmine’s opinion here. I went back and looked at the last half of that thread, since the question of this post affects us all. The censured poster was becoming increasingly antagonistic and unwilling to provide fair grounds for argument- the few posts immediately prior basically said “it’s all your sides fault, why do we have to do anything” which I would find trollish. As Jasmine and others have pointed out, giving the guy an out was, if anything, generous, although it certainly caused him to explode in an unacceptable manner.
Was the language perhaps heavy handed? Yes, but @What_Exit already realized that, and indicated that there were better ways of putting it, and he wouldn’t use it that way in the future. Still, I’d rather be asked point blank if I realized I was crossing the line in my argument, than get hit with a ban - I’ve had times in the last 2 weeks where I’ve been . . . . irrational due to stress and anxiety. And sounds like Kearsen was as well, if likely for different reasons. And this is where it’s key to have records - What_Exit’s response in thread was appropriate for someone blowing up - ban from posting in the thread and follow up. With the posted history of that user, and his explicit requests, this isn’t just stress, this is a pattern of abuse.
Just to be absolutely clear here, since you seem to have some confusion on the subject:
This one, initially:
“Hate speech, insults, and purposely inflammatory remarks (i.e., trolling) will not be tolerated.”
From the Registration Agreement, Rules, and FAQ.
You are confusing two different situations here.
When moderators are acting as users and are debating a topic with someone, we cannot compel someone to answer a particular question. We have the same rules as regular users. This has not changed, and it is not our job to require posters to answer questions in these types of situations.
In the course of our duties as moderators however, we can demand clarification or demand answers to particular questions, both on the board and via e-mail or private message. While we obviously can’t force someone to respond (we can’t exactly shove you into a chair and do the “vee have vays of making you talk” routine), failure to comply with our requests can result in the loss of your posting privileges on the SDMB, if it comes to that. This also is nothing new.
What_Exit’s post in the thread in question was clearly marked as him acting as a moderator, which makes this the second case. While you could argue that the post could have been more clearly worded, it has since been clarified in this ATMB thread that What_Exit was attempting to determine if the user was trolling, which is unquestionably a moderator action within the scope of his moderating duties here.
As has already been pointed out, accusations of trolling are not permitted outside the Pit. You should not be surprised by the fact that there is no outright accusation of trolling within the thread itself.
Post reports are private and confidential. You should not assume that you have access to all of the same information that moderators have access to.
Fair enough. Thanks.
Agreed, I think this is important. Straight Dope is a left-leaning board and so naturally most of the mods are also left-leaning. Nothing wrong with either of these things but the posts in question could be construed by some as a mod putting the poster of a right-wing argument in his/her place.
I’m sure the mods want to avoid any appearance of partiality in their duties so sticking to citing the broken rule is probably best.
I don’t think the issue is so much that the mods are left-leaning as it is that a conservative’s posts are much likelier to result in getting flagged in the first place. Since we are a roughly 80% (or more) liberal board, this means that a conservative’s posts are naturally much likelier to generate friction than vice versa, which means that all other things being equal, a conservative post that is, say, a seven on a 1-10 scale of offensiveness is likelier to result in users flagging him than a liberal post that is also a seven.
Are you saying you make all those posts on purpose?!? 
No one is making that policy. No one has to reply to a post even one made by a Mod. What the Mod was basically saying is that those posts look like trolling, if they arent trolling then clarify and back them up, otherwise dont post here no more.
You guys are giving the new mods a big ration of shit, without necessity and without reason. Give them a break while they get used to the new jackboots, OK?
Or- stop posting in that thread. Simple.
I’m speaking of the comments from the mod. I certainly recognise and agree that reports from other posters are confidential, and posters are not to raise trolling allegations. Both of those are good, sensible rules.
But that doesn’t apply to the mods themselves, does it, when they are responding to a trolling allegation? If they are concerned that a poster is trolling, are the mods not allowed to raise that directly with the poster in that thread? Again, for me it’s a transparency issue: why is a mod acting? If it’s a concern about trolling, so be it. And, we as posters should be able to see why a mod is intervening.
However, What Exit has clarified the situation and I’m happy with what he’s said, so my OP has been answered.
No one is saying a rule was broken. The new apprentice mod was checking to see whether or not a possible troll had a reasonable back up to his JAQing and possible trolling. It was a very reasonable request under the circumstances.
Looks, the new mods have personalities of their own, they cant be and should not be carbon copies of the mods you have been used to over the last five years. Demanding that they do exactly as their predecessors is unrealistic and silly.
Calling a new mod out every time they do something new is bad for the board.
Let them be, let them spread their wings and learn.