For what it’s worth, I think the suspending of Ellis Dee is a bit over the top. The Pit is where we can complain about board moderation, right? Now, some complaints are going to look a bit more civil than others, especialy considering the use of insults.
Sure, the word he used ( cunt )was a pretty harsh one. But it raises a question: How harsh can we go? Was it because he directed it at a Mod? I’ve seen 72 pt red bolded uses of the word before, used against a mere Doper mind you, not a mod, that didn’t result in a suspension. Is it because of it being a word used to describe a body opening? Than no more assholes either, huh?
Shouldn’t the Mods and Admins be able to take the occasional flame? Yeah, a pattern of abusive speech towards one particular Mod would be cause for concern, but it looks to me like Ellis just got mad. Shucks, he even aplogised.
I would like to keep this discussion civil. All comments by Dopers, Mods, and Admins are welcome.
I just think some clarification is in order. I still don’t quite understand why we can flame here, and why we can complain about the mods here, but we can’t flame the mods. Is there a specific rule against insulting staff? That should be made more explicit.
What? Curse a mod in the pit? Why, I’ve never heard of such a thing!!
In case you missed that, TubaDiva, that was sarcasm.
If you want to make a new rule wherein no one is allowed to insult mods using swear-words, by all means do so. But don’t make up the rule on the spot and suspend someone for transgressing the unknown (and unknowable) extra super secret new rule.
The mods, unlike the bulk of members, are all wonderful people who are always looking out for everyone’s best interests. Insulting them weakens our community as a whole by subverting the carefully instituted hierarchical structure. Being nice to the mods is good for our community because it reinforces our structure and makes us all the more happy to be in the presence of these Truly Wonderful People. And if you still don’t get it, maybe you need a stay in time out.
A banning would be an overreaction. A 30-day “time out” for unjustified namecalling abuse to the third-party moderators seems reasonable. I couldn’t just let this go if if I were in the mod’s/admin’s place.
Sorry, Ellis. I calls 'em like I sees 'em. pizzabrat did not call you a racist, he called your post “a perfect example of typical oblivious racism”, that your observation was “100% bullshit rationalization,” that “you insulted my intelligence” suggesting that “white celebrations are more genuine.”
But… pizzabrat probably had a toe over the line in his response, whereas you put your whole foot your.
Cool off, you got a suspension. You get a vacation. Not the worse thing in the world.
Actually, I don’t see why we should expect to be able to insult the mods without getting in trouble. Strictly from a pragmatic standpoint, you don’t piss off the folks in charge. But since the rules around this place seem to basically be based upon precedent, I think the precedent should at least be clear.
The Auxiliary Police, unlike the bulk of citizenry, are all wonderful people who are always looking out for everyone’s best interests. Insulting them weakens our community as a whole by subverting the carefully instituted hierarchical structure. Being nice to volunteer peace officers is good for our community because it reinforces our structure and makes us all the more happy to be in the presence of these Truly Wonderful People. And if you still don’t get it, maybe you need to stop judging people as individuals and hop aboard to good ship lollipop.
Pssst. Just because someone posts a serious reply to a sarcastic post doesn’t mean they didn’t get it.
davenportavenger posted a tongue-in-cheek statement that seemed to imply that the mods shouldn’t be insulted, but in fact said just the opposite. Excalibre replied, in a serious, straightforward fashion, that in fact the mods deserve some respect. No whooshing involved.
There is a difference between getting into a heated argument with someone and screaming at the K-Mart clerk because they won’t give you credit for a return. If a person is just doing their job, they should not be set upon as personal enemies.
That said, while I can’t think of specific instances, this sort of thing (insulting a mod over mod decisions) seems like something I’ve seen in the pit again and again.
Maybe the new suspension option is being used where stern warnings (last warnings) were used before. Obviously a banning over this would be ridiculous and deserving of complaints, but a suspension has a lower bar of annoying behavior.
It seems to me that Ellis Dee was getting increasingly agitated and was likely to soon step over the line. By suspending him, the mods give him a chance to cool down before he goes too far.
The suspension is bullshit. One thing we always hear the mods harp on is that their positions are unpaid, and they deserve some slack for their seldom-admitted (and even more seldom apologized-for) mistakes. That works both ways - Ellis immediately acknowledged and apologized for his overreaction in that thread after being suitably chastised by tomndeb. Where’s his slack?
It’s the worst fucking month to suspend him, too. He’s always got insightful commentary on the NFL, and now we’ll all miss out on it the entire postseason because someone got their panties in a bunch about being insulted.
