# How do you feel about the moderation on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417 "2009-09-24T21:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/21 "2009-09-30T07:56:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There was a little board who had a little url > Right in the middle of the browser; > When then mods were good, they were very, very good, > And when they were bad they were horrid. > > -apologies to Mother Goose Dude, you totally stole my answer… (except I was going to quote the original, so you actually did better than I would have) More seriously, I think that a lot of the criticism is Confirmation Bias – we don’t notice most of the time, when the mods do their job well and quietly; we do when there are problems. Or to give another example – in football, baseball, soccer… the best-refereed games are the one where not only do you not remember the refs’ (umpires’) names, you hardly remember they were even there. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/22 "2009-09-30T10:37:14Z")
I like it. I do think the Pit should be more hands-off, but that’s not the Mods’ doing. I greatly prefer the setup here to unmoderated boards, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/23 "2009-09-30T22:46:11Z")
I’ve seen other message boards’ moderation styles–either Nazis or non-entities. I like it fine right here. ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/24 "2009-10-01T11:51:21Z")
I had to say “like” but then I’m comparing it with several other boards where, at best, the moderating could only be described as childish to borderline sociopathic. Of the four with which I’m most familiar by far the most debased, as far as moderating (and a few other reasons) is concerned, would probably be SA and yet, for some weird reason, it appears to be the biggest and most popular. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/25 "2009-10-01T13:39:22Z")
Mods are fine; moderation isn’t the problem here. ---
**Author:** ![steadierfooting](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@steadierfooting](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steadierfooting)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/26 "2009-10-01T13:41:32Z")
I don’t mind the moderators, but I can’t stand the people that spend the first 2 lines with comments to the mods as to why they put a post in a specific forum and ‘feel free to move’. They aren’t idiots, I’m sure they can figure it out by now… ---
**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:** [October 1, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/27 "2009-10-01T17:42:12Z")
I like it. Things are more civil here than in other places. All out anarchy can be fun but serious topics benefit from the civility. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/28 "2009-10-02T20:17:48Z")
I selected “I dislike it,” because I think the rules could stand some relaxing: i.e., I’m interpreting “the moderation” to mean “the moderation policies,” not “how those policies are enacted.” The moderators themselves seem to be pretty good about applying the rules consistently and not abusing their power, generally speaking. At least some of them seem amenable to changing their minds and/or retracting things when someone demonstrates that the mod in question was mistaken, which is always a good sign. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/29 "2009-10-02T20:31:58Z")
It’s not the moderators I have a problem with, it’s some of the ridiculous rules they are expected to enforce. ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/30 "2009-10-02T20:34:18Z")
I dislike like it. Too many times I’ve seen a poster reply to someone with the same level of sass as the original poster, but the quoter gets smacked down. The Pit is really just a joke. It’s like having a corner of an Olde English library where you’re allowed to say tallywhacker. It’s so stuffy and rigid and basically a flame forum imagined by the 700 club. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/31 "2009-10-02T21:27:55Z")
Except for a few isolated cases, the mods do a really good job, especially when you consider all the bullshit they to put up with without pay. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417/32 "2009-10-02T22:50:50Z")
_mod hug_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-the-moderation-on-the-sdmb/511417.md?page=1)