Is There A Board Policy About Approving Donation Request Threads?

[RTFirefly]

@Loach

Unless you don’t agree that threadshitting she be modded at all then there has to be a line. Where to put that line is a judgement call. There can be no bright line rule. The decision has to be made using the context of the thread. You would place the line elsewhere. Duly noted.

Donation requests are different from other threads in that the proposition being ‘argued for’ in the OP, and the existence of the thread itself, are inseparable. So of course someone who thinks the request is ridiculous thinks the thread itself was a bad idea. This is why the notion of ‘threadshitting’ is quite simply a bad fit here.

If I open a thread in The Game Room arguing that Ed Kranepool was the best baseball player ever, there’s a big difference between disagreement (“Ed was a pretty good ballplayer for his time, but don’t be ridiculous”) and threadshitting (“why are you guys wasting time debating that silly game anyway?”) With donation requests, that gulf vanishes.

This isn’t a nail; put down your hammer.

It is certainly not obvious and not the only reason. Just from the top of my head from recent threads of this type people have.
[ol]
[li]Offered encouragement.[/li][li]Offered sympathy.[/li][li]Asked clarifying questions.[/li][li]State their opinions about the merits of the cause.[/li][li]Present possible alternatives to giving money.[/li][li]Propose solutions to the problem that the OP may not have thought of.[/li][/ol]

You certainly include strange things as ‘arguing against the merits of a donation request.’ I wouldn’t characterize any of the above in that manner.

[ol]
[li]Criticized the need for donations. [/li][li]Explained why they were not going to donate.[/li][/ol]

The second-to-last one qualifies, and the last one…well, that depends on the nature of the explanation.

What I consider a threadshit is to go into someone’s thread and wage a counter campaign against them. Start your own Pit thread if you must. In this case there is one available for you already. If you for some reason feel compelled to tell other adults what they should or should not be doing then make your own thread. I have faith that our members are smart enough to reach their own conclusions without someone else directing them.

Look, we argue all the time in the Dope about what adults should or shouldn’t be doing. In fact, listen to yourself:

If you for some reason feel compelled to tell other adults what they should or should not be doing then make your own thread.

You just told me what I should do. Aren’t you supposed to start your own thread for that?

It’s like the Knights of Ni finding themselves saying ‘it.’

But getting back to the point:

I have faith that our members are smart enough to reach their own conclusions without someone else directing them.

WTF?!

I have faith that Dopers can reach their own conclusions too, but debating the issue in question is part of that process.

But again, the problem is that an argument that it’s really pretty ridiculous for someone to even be asking strangers for money for air-conditioning for their rabbits or a European trip for their teen, is simultaneously an argument against the OP, and against the existence of the thread. They’re inseparable.

AFAIK, this is a unique circumstance. Using the hammer of ‘threadshitting’ under these circumstances says that normal debate about the issue set forth in the OP has to take place in another thread. This is true for nothing else. You are placing limits to disagreement with the OP in this context that you do nowhere else in these boards.

[Omar_Little]

I would propose that donation solicitation threads be permitted, but they then be locked. This serves two purposes: 1) to avoid the threadshitting within the particular thread, and 2) after a few hours the thread will float on downstream.

[Ann_Hedonia]

@buddha_david

No, I’m talking about the donation request thread. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.

I had a couple of issues with the request. Even though Mistee was careful not to say that this was a school sponsored trip, I was kind of left with that impression after my first read - that this was something her school class was doing and she would be the odd person out if she couldn’t go. Instead, it’s a commercially advertised package that will also be available in 2016. And 2017. And 2018. And every year after that. And it seems to be one of the most extensive and expensive packages offered.

Also, while what Mistee does with her kids is her own business but she really did throw her underage daughter’s real life personal information out to the world by posting that direct link to the GoFundMe Page. For $20, as it turned out. It would have probably been more appropriate for her to ask anyone that wanted to contribute to message her privately, especially considering the potential for negative reaction. And if she didn’t realize the potential for negative reaction when she posted that would be because she doesn’t spend much time here - which makes the begging more odious.

Then there was the original click-bait title which should’ve been a red flag.

[DrDeth]

@engineer_comp_geek

Moderator Note

Do not bring intentionally provocative topics from other threads into this one. Take it to the appropriate Pit thread if you feel a need to make such comments.

Dude, that needed to be a full out Warning.

[DrDeth]

@engineer_comp_geek

Moderator Note

Accusations of trolling are not permitted outside of the Pit.

Take it to the Pit if you want to write something like this.

Altho the trolling part was out of line no doubt, "No, it’s because Fenris has a history of bringing it up and twisting the facts for shits ‘n’ giggles" has more than a bit of truthiness to it. Some dudes just cant forgive and forget and enjoy harassing other posters about shit that occurred one time years ago.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

@Ann_Hedonia

I had a couple of issues with the request. Even though Mistee was careful not to say that this was a school sponsored trip, I was kind of left with that impression after my first read - that this was something her school class was doing and she would be the odd person out if she couldn’t go. Instead, it’s a commercially advertised package that will also be available in 2016. And 2017. And 2018. And every year after that. And it seems to be one of the most extensive and expensive packages offered.

My son went on an EF Tours sponsored trip but it was through school and with school chaperones and linked to the Spanish language curriculum (his was a trip to Spain). School trips often use groups like this to manage the logistical details, but don’t offer it through school every year. There is nothing inconsistent with it being a commercial package the company frequently offers and it being a school sponsored trip that may only occur periodically.

[bobot]

We had a fundraising thread by a fella that needed new wheels. It worked out well for him, and I’m glad that he was able to ask for help here.

[engineer_comp_geek]

@DrDeth

Dude, that needed to be a full out Warning.

I disagree, but thank you for sharing.

Also, continued posts along these lines might get you a warning for Jr. Modding.

@DrDeth

Altho the trolling part was out of line no doubt, "No, it’s because Fenris has a history of bringing it up and twisting the facts for shits ‘n’ giggles" has more than a bit of truthiness to it. Some dudes just cant forgive and forget and enjoy harassing other posters about shit that occurred one time years ago.

Again, if you want to discuss the truthfulness of Fenris, or any other poster, the appropriate forum for it is the BBQ Pit, not ATMB.

And if you see someone harassing another poster for something that happened in a different thread, please report it.

[DrDeth]

@engineer_comp_geek

Also, continued posts along these lines might get you a warning for Jr. Modding.

And if you see someone harassing another poster for something that happened in a different thread, please report it.

Fair enuf.

[Boyo_Jim]

@buddha_david

… There’s been no such admission from the mods regarding the Super-Special Eurotrip thread, which the board consensus seems to regard as far more frivolous than chilly bunnies.

I’d say the two are more or less on a par. I look forward to request to send chilled bunnies to Europe.

[Bricker]

The donation request thread is now closed.

I would like to ask the moderators if that thread has created any changes in approach or policy. That is, going forward, would the SDMB be likely to approve a similar request?

[Boyo_Jim]

@Bricker

The donation request thread is now closed.

I would like to ask the moderators if that thread has created any changes in approach or policy. That is, going forward, would the SDMB be likely to approve a similar request?

I would support a rule that the thread title should clearly indicate that it’s an appeal for funds, but IMO all this other stuff about closer advance scrutiny and mods making some kinds of qualitative judgements about the worthiness of the requests are bad ideas.

I also kinda like the idea of starting them all in the Pit, but that’s another form of advance judgement. It’s fine with me that it’s moved to the Pit if people find the request Pit-worthy.

[BigT]

@engineer_comp_geek

I disagree, but thank you for sharing.

Also, continued posts along these lines might get you a warning for Jr. Modding.

How? This is ATMB, the forum for discussing moderation, including disagreeing with it. Am I now Junior Modding because I’m disagreeing with your actions?

If so, this is a huge change in policy.

[DrDeth]

@BigT

How? This is ATMB, the forum for discussing moderation, including disagreeing with it. Am I now Junior Modding because I’m disagreeing with your actions?

If so, this is a huge change in policy.

I think that was meant as a joke, due to a recent exchange we had. The lack of a smily however makes this uncertain.

[engineer_comp_geek]

The post that was in response to was reported for jr. modding.

Saying this person should be banned, that person should be warned, etc. is pretty clearly jr. modding.

However, saying X should be a warning could be taken as a straightforward case of jr. modding (as above), or it could also mean I think X should be a warning (with the “I think” part of that just implied and not stated), in which case the person is just expressing their opinion. The person who reported the post clearly took it as the former, and you clearly took it as the latter.

Since it could be interpreted both ways, I did not feel that the post in question was clearly intended as jr. modding. You’ll note that there’s no warning or even a mod note there. I also wanted to make sure that DrDeth didn’t (intentionally or otherwise) go down the path of the former type of behavior, so I said what I said. It was more precautionary than anything else.

There’s some ambiguity in the English language. Sometimes just adding the words “I think” to the beginning of a statement does wonders to clarify the intent of a statement.

There’s no change in policy.

ATMB is the place to discuss disagreements with what we, as moderators, do. If you disagree with something that we do, feel free to discuss it here. Merely disagreeing with a moderator is definitely not jr modding.

And personally, if you do disagree with something that I say or do, I hope you do bring it up in ATMB, or if for some reason you don’t feel comfortable bringing it up in public, you’ll at least send me a PM to let me know how you feel.