# Frank Shuts Down A Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087 "2008-01-18T22:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/61 "2008-01-19T05:46:11Z")
But then what will he have to bitch about? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/62 "2008-01-19T06:22:27Z")
He’ll find something, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/63 "2008-01-19T06:45:10Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] I don’t know the OP, or anybody else really, but it does seem that shutting down that thread less than twenty minutes after it was born demonstrates a certain lack of confidence in the SDMB membership to create a worthwhile discussion out of an offered topic. [/QUOTE] Piffle. By those lights no threads should ever be closed. Also, I should be, I think, notorious for my impatience with threads that are the trend of the day. Also, also, I ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/64 "2008-01-19T06:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] How about, if a thread doesn’t actually break any rules, it gets a few hours to find its feet? If it doesn’t get responses in that time, it’ll usually sink out of sight by itself. If it does get some, a moderator might feel the need to think up and post an actual reason to close it, or reconsider, which wouldn’t hurt either. No offense, but even a dull thread title, posted on a message board with thousands of members, can lead to much more than one person’s imagination can envision. As it is, we’ve traded (as I see it) a _potentially_ fun thread for yet another game of kick the guy who criticizes the board/moderators. Too bad, that’s all. [/QUOTE] Let’s apply those rules to the thread in question. It broke the rules by being a joke thread in IMHO and not MPSIMS. Stop at first clause of your scenario. Analysis done. Thread closed. That was fun. What else ya got? 🙂 ETA: Ooh, can we finish **Frank** ’s sentence for him? I think the next part is . . . am a(n). . . . ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/65 "2008-01-19T08:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] ETA: Ooh, can we finish **Frank** ’s sentence for him? I think the next part is . . . am a(n). . . . [/QUOTE] big… (be careful, _very_ careful) ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/66 "2008-01-19T08:44:17Z")
cheese eater? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/67 "2008-01-19T13:42:43Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] ETA: Ooh, can we finish **Frank** ’s sentence for him? I think the next part is . . . am a(n). . . . [/QUOTE] You know what? I don’t even remember what it was. My computer went nuts, and by the time it was working again, it was an hour later. “Forget it,” said I. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/68 "2008-01-19T13:57:06Z")
They say the mind is the first thing to go. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/69 "2008-01-19T14:12:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] Or maybe they are not piling on \*\*Frank \*\* because they think you are a dick with a chip on your shoulder [/QUOTE] A chip? Bah. He’s got a whole order of 'em, and a double portion of fish. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/70 "2008-01-19T15:08:25Z")
I just want to say that I had only a passing interest in this thread, but it was the tab that I had open when my AVG Update started. When that happens, I am able to scroll up and down, but I can’t change tabs until the update is complete. It’s only about three minutes, but that’s an awful long time to be reading this thread. I now have a better understanding of the expression “Waste of Bandwidth” and I offer this as a caution to other Firefox/AVG users. Be careful what you open: you may be stuck with it for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/71 "2008-01-19T15:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=wring] well, from where I sit, **silenus** seems to be doing quite an effective job of ‘pointing and laughing’. What are you here for? [/QUOTE] **Zambini57** is an object lesson? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/72 "2008-01-19T16:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Piffle. By those lights no threads should ever be closed. Also, I should be, I think, notorious for my impatience with threads that are the trend of the day. Also, also, I [/QUOTE] **Frank** , I don’t believe you really think that waiting a couple hours before closing threads is the same as never closing them,\* and I wouldn’t think impatience and notoriety are qualities to which a moderator would aspire. If you’re closing a thread because it breaks a rule or is hateful or duplicates another thread or has become unmanageable somehow, speed is just a fabulous thing to have. But if you’re shutting it down merely because it bores and irritates you and you don’t expect other posters to be able to make anything worthwhile out of it, I think waiting is a better idea. The collective wit of the SDMB might pleasantly surprise you. Look, in this thread, at the creativity with which **Heffalump and Roo** invented a nonexistent IMHO rule, just for the sake of posting something. There’s a successful thread now about _chewing pencils_, for crying out loud. \*Unless of course the end of your post was a clever and funny way of implying that delay _would_ prevent you from closing threads, on account of a pathologically short attention span, in which case my hat’s off to you ---
**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:** [January 19, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/73 "2008-01-19T16:59:23Z")
The thread was a “me too” joke thread, and Frank closed it down only because he got to it before I did. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/74 "2008-01-19T17:02:58Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] The thread was a “me too” joke thread, and Frank closed it down only because he got to it before I did. [/QUOTE] An now you’re pissed because **Zamboninini** didn’t give you the point in the mod Pit standings. Gotta be quicker on the close button, kiddo. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/75 "2008-01-19T17:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] If you’re closing a thread because it breaks a rule or is hateful or duplicates another thread or has become unmanageable somehow, speed is just a fabulous thing to have. But if you’re shutting it down merely because it bores and irritates you and you don’t expect other posters to be able to make anything worthwhile out of it, I think waiting is a better idea. [/QUOTE] I told you why I closed it, in my first post in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/76 "2008-01-19T17:11:42Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] I just want to say that I had only a passing interest in this thread, but it was the tab that I had open when my AVG Update started. When that happens, I am able to scroll up and down, but I can’t change tabs until the update is complete. It’s only about three minutes, but that’s an awful long time to be reading this thread. I now have a better understanding of the expression “Waste of Bandwidth” and I offer this as a caution to other Firefox/AVG users. Be careful what you open: you may be stuck with it for a while. [/QUOTE] Really? Haha, sucks to be you. But seriously I don’t even realize AVG is updating until I get the box that says update complete. No interference with my firefox webbrowsing experience. Sounds to me like you got shafted a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/77 "2008-01-19T23:55:03Z")
Why, oh _why_, has this guy not been banned already? It’s obvious he didn’t change his behavior since he came back from his suspension. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/78 "2008-01-20T01:02:18Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Why, oh _why_, has this guy not been banned already? It’s obvious he didn’t change his behavior since he came back from his suspension. [/QUOTE] The guy had a disagreement about a moderation decision, and raised it in the Pit. I don’t understand the call for banning him. Sure most people disagree with him on this topic, but what’s wrong with being wrong? If you disagree with the decision not to ban him already maybe you should start a thread about it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/79 "2008-01-20T02:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] I told you why I closed it, in my first post in this thread. [/QUOTE] Yup, you did, but I thought it only sporting to give you another chance, because the answer you gave was pretty silly. First off, your assumption that it could _only_ be a joke thread was not necessarily sound. “Never” might have been a little hyperbolic, but people who don’t see or haven’t seen the sky for long periods of time include prisoners, Seattleites, people who work indoors in northern latitudes, and the blind. Second, if jokes _had_ worked their way into the thread, or even came to dominate it, that _still_ doesn’t violate any rule I’ve ever heard of. Third, it’s a pretty lame excuse to say that the thread was killed because you were too lazy to shift it to MPSIMS (the best move, _maybe_) and not lazy _enough_ to leave it alone (the second-best option). That just makes you seem not only dumb but dangerous, and I think most of us can agree that you’re not both, and I could still maintain that you’re neither. At least you’re not still arguing that waiting a few hours before closing a thread is the same as not closing it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087/80 "2008-01-20T03:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=The King of Soup] “Never” might have been a little hyperbolic, but people who don’t see or haven’t seen the sky for long periods of time include prisoners, Seattleites, people who work indoors in northern latitudes, and the blind. [/quote] Seattleites and people who work indoors in northern latitudes don’t see the sky? What do you call that thing over our heads? It’s still the sky even if it’s dark or covered in clouds. Prisoners and the blind, well, only those who were born blind haven’t seen the sky, which is what the OP of the closed thread was asking. It was obviously a spoof thread of the myriad other threads ongoing. I think Frank was sick of them dominating the forum, getting progressively dumber and lamer. They close game threads and joke threads too when they get out of hand. While yes, I agree the thread could have been left open longer, I also can’t see Pitting the Mod who closed it either. If there was a valid thread idea there, I think the thread’s OP might have opened this Pit thread. As it stands, the OP of this Pit thread doesn’t seem to be complaining based on the actual content of the closed thread… because there really wasn’t any. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-shuts-down-a-thread/434087.md?page=5)