Miller just attacked me out of the blue in a post after I had commented on his using the term “Democrat Party” after calling himself a Democrat. I pointed out that Democrats use the term Democratic Party. He went ballistic right after that, and then came up with this gem:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19738504&postcount=132
He sure is. It’s in the Pit and he was posting as a poster, not as a mod.
You’ve been here since March 1999 and you still don’t know the answer to this question?
He was not acting as a moderator; he was giving his opinion as a poster. The thread was in the Pit, where insults are allowed.
Case closed.
Yes. Yes I am.
It’s one of the rules of the Straight Dope Messaging Board.
As many others have said already, of it’s in the Pit, mods are allowed to insult you and other posters, yes.
Lace those gloves, op, and hit back.
I suppose I should give an actual explanation. It’s Halloween, after all, and I guess my costume this year is a competent moderator.
The moderators are expected to follow the same general rules as the other posters on the board. This includes not insulting posters outside the Pit - but, just like any other poster, also includes the ability to insult other posters so long as it’s in the Pit - and, of course, it’s within the specific guidelines of the BBQ Pit forum. So long as a moderator is posting as a poster, you are free to respond to them in kind. If you want to go back in that thread and call me an asshole, you are absolutely free to do that, and you will receive absolutely no sanction or punishment for sassing me just because I’m a mod.
The exception, here, is that if I am posting as a mod, you can’t back talk me. (Well, you can, but that’s when I start handing out warnings.) The flip side of this, obviously, is that I can’t insult people when I’m acting as a moderator, which is something I almost never screw up. I make a point to use [Moderating] tags for anything I post as a moderator, so you know when it’s safe to call me an asshole or not.
I’m aware that there’s an argument out there that moderators should sacrifice some of their freedom as members when they become moderators. Pit mods shouldn’t get to insult users, GD mods shouldn’t take side in debates, and so forth. The logic there’s really strong. One problem: finding people willing to take the job under those conditions. We’re all volunteers, here - except Idle Thoughts, who’s technically a sort of indentured servant. I got placed as the Pit mod because that’s one of my favorite forums on the board. If a condition of being a mod there is that I can’t participate in the forum, then I don’t want the job. And the fact that it’s my favorite forum is part of what makes me most suitable to moderate that forum. It’s been suggested that maybe mods don’t mod forums they like, but I think I’d be a horror show if placed in charge of MPSIMS, and I hate to think what having to mod the Pit would do to poor IvoryTowerDenizen.
So, you get the present situation, where mods are allowed to be just as socially unaccpetable to you in the Pit, as you get to be to everyone else. It’s a bit of a hack but it’s served us pretty well since… ever, really. Anyway, if you have any other rules-related questions, I’m happy to answer them here. If you’d prefer to resort to swearing at each other, I am at your service in the thread in question.
So do I. Denizen is a monster in human form and, given a forum like the Pit, would unleash a thousand years of darkness and blood would run in the threads. :eek:
Sheeple.
Sheeple.
Shee
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
You will all love me and despair!
Ha ha. Miller owned you in that post you little butt hurt baby.
Shit. I thought that this thread was in the Pit for some stupid reason. I apologize for this misplaced post.
Galadriel? Is that you?
The other exception is that when a mod gives you a ration of shit in non-mod mode, you can’t put them on ignore.
Well, I guess you could, but doing so would probably bite you in the ass later on.
And I should know this off the top of my head by now — we can insult them as posters just not for being Mods/their moderation, right?
Yep. Let 'em have it, provided it’s not about moderation or moderator decisions. Such belongs here in ATMB.
The settings here prevent you from putting a moderator on ignore.
I have to agree with Swiller on this one.
THAT’S your idea of “ballistic”? I’d call it dismissive, more than anything.