# Criticising Mods **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 31, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521 "2017-07-31T17:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 1, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/21 "2017-08-01T02:17:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It’s hard to have civil discussions about moderator actions when people can say things like, “Hey, > \, you fucking idiot. Why the fuck did you give me a warning, you fartsucker? I bet your parents were first cousins, weren’t they?” Putting discussions in ATMB forces people to be civil and rationally discuss their differences with the mods on particular actions. …in theory. But yeah, that, and a feeling that it wasn’t fair to ask people who had volunteered to help run the board, to subject themselves to insults and abuse as part of the job. Also, that it wasn’t fair to make posters open themselves up to that stuff if they had a problem about something a moderator had done. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/22 "2017-08-01T03:20:36Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There are some here (the OP is not one of them; he simply asked a question which got answered) who will complain of almost any moderator actions. It’s a no-win situation for them. Clarify your antecedents, please. For whom, exactly, is it a no-win situation? The mods? Or the posters who will always find a reason to complain about moderator actions? Frankly, I’m not that disturbed by chronic complainers being in a no-win situation. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/23 "2017-08-01T03:35:25Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I completely agree. People who post admissions of trolling like: [“I will intentionally push your buttons by saying things I know will bug you.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15924289&postcount=23) and [“Do what I do [when people are annoyed at you]. Threaten to get even more annoying if they don’t shut up.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15893860&postcount=103) should be dealt with harshly. > > Hell, I’ll go so far as to say that people like that should be instabanned. Or at least they shouldn’t bitch about the mods being similarly lenient to other people. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > Seconded. Anyone who does that should be permabanned. I was under the impression that trolling is permissible in the pit ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/24 "2017-08-01T06:37:18Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’ve never been a fan of this rule. Me neither. If I had started a thread like that in ATMB, essentially saying, “Guys, we have this blatant, obvious troll running around, almost every thread he touches turns into a shitshow for nearly a page whenever he shows up, can we maybe do something about it?” what would the response have been? Best case: “Post this in the pit”. More realistic case: “Warned for insulting another poster. Send it to the pit.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/25 "2017-08-01T06:48:59Z")
I was around before this rule was implemented, and I never understood why posters could say atrocious things about mods in the Pit. If you go to a store and have a complaint, and start the complaint by cursing out the employee you’ve been dealing with, that’s the end of the complaint - you’ll be asked to leave. People who are performing a service for you, especially for free, are entitled to be treated with respect, even if you disagree with their service. And, it’s the usual thing: if you’re upset about a particular action, but make your complaints extremely personal, the debate will turn on the personal issues, not the action that has upset you. It will trigger pages and pages of pro and con comments about that person, and the action that you’re upset about will get lost entirely. If you’ve got a complaint about management, you have to make the complaint in a civil fashion to be listened to. That’s how pretty much all businesses operate. Why should the Dope be any different? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/26 "2017-08-01T12:01:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I was under the impression that trolling is permissible in the pit [Is trolling against the rules in the Pit?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=819858) > [@Miller](#): > > I have modded people for trolling in the Pit, but it’s got to be pretty exceptional instance. The usual definition of “posting just to make people angry” doesn’t quite work, because the Pit is specifically intended as a place you can got to get in fights with people - which generally involves making them angry. If we determine that a person is taking positions that they don’t actually hold just to start fights, that can draw a warning, but I usually will only do that for an explicit admission that a poster’s been lying about their positions - and by “explicit admission,” I don’t mean posting something like, “I love watching you libs/pubs get all wound up!” I mean something like, “Yeah, I was just making that stuff up to see how people would react.” ---
**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:** [August 1, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/27 "2017-08-01T12:47:25Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I was under the impression that trolling is permissible in the pit It’s technically not (see John Mace’s post), but even if it was, that “admitted troll” (to use his own term) that I quoted posted one of those admissions in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/28 "2017-08-01T13:15:51Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > It’s technically not (see John Mace’s post), but even if it was, that “admitted troll” (to use his own term) that I quoted posted one of those admissions in ATMB. So? It’s where the “trolling” happens not the admission. Unless you’re contending that admitting to trolling is trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/29 "2017-08-01T13:32:33Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So? It’s where the “trolling” happens not the admission. Unless you’re contending that admitting to trolling is trolling. Defense lawyer: “Your honor, the District Attorney has no witnesses to the shooting, only my client’s admission that he shot the victim. I call for a mistrial.” ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/30 "2017-08-01T13:54:10Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Defense lawyer: > “Your honor, the District Attorney has no witnesses to the shooting, only my client’s admission that he shot the victim. I call for a mistrial.” He admitted he sometimes trolls in the pit, which is allowed to large degree. So in your anaology he admitted shooting someone while at that place you’re allowed to shoot people. Somalia maybe? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/31 "2017-08-01T14:05:28Z")
Man, has everyone forgotten the **handsomeharry** incident so quickly? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/32 "2017-08-01T14:26:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Clarify your antecedents, please. For whom, exactly, is it a no-win situation? The mods? Or the posters who will always find a reason to complain about moderator actions? > > Frankly, I’m not that disturbed by chronic complainers being in a no-win situation. Sorry, “them” was the moderators. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/33 "2017-08-01T14:29:27Z")
Congratulations … **Clothahump** … two ATMB threads in one week about you … that has to be a record of some kind … I’m impressed how well you get the liberal/hippy/commie McGoverniks all stirred up … look at the way they’re chewing on each other, and now they’ve turned on the moderators … this must be a special win for you, have you been nominated for “shit-kicker of the year” yet? … or have you won this award already? … Someday, your work here will bring the results you want … a kinder and gentler set of fora for the more conservative posters … someday because of you, posters will be able to say “personal liberty Trumps social equality” without 17 pages of potty-talk … this is like Reagan taking down the Soviet Union … it’s a shitty job, but someone has to do it … a two-fer this week, man I’m impressed !!! You got the snowflakes so damn crazy one of them actually Pitted **Moderator Miller** … what ever might be said of the other moderators here, there’s one who is entitled to our sympathy, our love, and all our compassion … bitching about **Moderator Miller** waiting three pages to close the thread, my God people, do you have any idea how rarely the other moderators let **Moderator Miller** out of his cage? … it’s just an hour a day for exercise and you expect him to be prompt with the slightest insult … that’s just kicking below the belt … obviously even **Clothahump** is insulted by that … Keep up the Good Work, **Clothahump** , these folks here on the SDMB claim to “honor diversity” … but only as long as all of us think and act exactly the same … it takes balls to show these folks how wrong they are … I suppose I should add some meaningful comment here … I think the people who complain about the moderating here should be _compelled_ to be a moderator … one week in a small dark cell next to **Moderator Miller** ought to clarify the rules for them … “No Pitting moderator actions” … the thread in question deserves a warning … better if we’d made a collection to hire someone to clean and cook the rats the other moderators feed **Moderator Miller** , the poor soul, he should get a gopher once a week I say … ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/34 "2017-08-01T14:43:46Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I was around before this rule was implemented, and I never understood why posters could say atrocious things about mods in the Pit. If you go to a store and have a complaint, and start the complaint by cursing out the employee you’ve been dealing with, that’s the end of the complaint - you’ll be asked to leave. > > People who are performing a service for you, especially for free, are entitled to be treated with respect, even if you disagree with their service. > > And, it’s the usual thing: if you’re upset about a particular action, but make your complaints extremely personal, the debate will turn on the personal issues, not the action that has upset you. It will trigger pages and pages of pro and con comments about that person, and the action that you’re upset about will get lost entirely. > > If you’ve got a complaint about management, you have to make the complaint in a civil fashion to be listened to. That’s how pretty much all businesses operate. Why should the Dope be any different? I’ll have a lot more sympathy for this point of view when the moderators consistently fulfill their entirely voluntary duties without snark, sarcasm and the ever popular zinger/threadlock combo. Some of the moderators are much worse than others on this account. It was rather shameful that several mods used the “can’t block a mod” property in the thread that spawned this one to “force” **Clothahump** to see something from a poster he had on ignore. That isn’t blurring the line between posting as a mod v. Posting as a member. That’s wiping your ass on it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/35 "2017-08-01T14:52:27Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I’ll have a lot more sympathy for this point of view when the moderators consistently fulfill their entirely voluntary duties without snark, sarcasm and the ever popular zinger/threadlock combo. Some of the moderators are much worse than others on this account. It was rather shameful that several mods used the “can’t block a mod” property in the thread that spawned this one to “force” **Clothahump** to see something from a poster he had on ignore. That isn’t blurring the line between posting as a mod v. Posting as a member. That’s wiping your ass on it. I think I agree with you. Using moderator powers for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do moderating is an abuse of those powers, period, even if said moderators are not the ones assigned to that particular forum. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/36 "2017-08-01T15:11:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think I agree with you. Using moderator powers for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do moderating is an abuse of those powers, period, even if said moderators are not the ones assigned to that particular forum. The one that always sticks in my memory was that time a mod moved a thread to the Pit just so he could call the someone an asshole. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/37 "2017-08-01T15:34:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Clarify your antecedents, please. For whom, exactly, is it a no-win situation? The mods? Or the posters who will always find a reason to complain about moderator actions? > > Frankly, I’m not that disturbed by chronic complainers being in a no-win situation. Some people have a medical condition that prevents them from breathing if they aren’t bitching about something. And the mods are an easy target because they actually do something here. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/38 "2017-08-01T15:36:02Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > The one that always sticks in my memory was that time a mod moved a thread to the Pit just so he could call the someone an asshole. 😉 Mods should never be allowed to move a thread to the PIt. Move it elsewhere or lock it. I ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/39 "2017-08-01T15:57:51Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > The one that always sticks in my memory was that time a mod moved a thread to the Pit just so he could call the someone an asshole. 😉 Whatever happened to that mod? I always liked him. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521/40 "2017-08-01T17:11:17Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Whatever happened to that mod? I always liked him. He was defrocked and now lives a life of shame. Still posts frequently though. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criticising-mods/792521.md?page=3)