Is there a such thing as rude moderating?

Is it necessary when moderating to add personal attacks, snide or snarky comments (even if in the pit) to an official mod action?

[Moderating]

xxxxxxxxx, this is a formal warning for complaining about moderator actions in the Pit.

Don’t spend it all in one place.

[/Moderating]*

here

(members name replaced with xxxxxxxxx in above quote)
*
[Moderating]

And you’re a really bad liar. That’s a warning to you, too.

[/Moderating]

and here*
I’m not concerned with the official nature of the mod’s actions, that’s between the member and the staff. What concerns me is what appears to be snide, snarky, insulting additions to the warnings. Are such comments professional and in the best interest of the board? Are they necessary?

They meant those things in the nice way.

Moderation here is almost exclusively rude. That’s what’s so great about it: the mod team’s clear distaste for everyone they moderate, without even trying to pretend to be even a little bit polite. Miller’s usually cool though. Maybe he started drinking early today or something.

[BANGS GAVEL!!!]

[Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!]

Yes, the clear distaste is a piquant touch to the weariness of bearing such a heavy burden.

To the OP, those examples are nothing… there’s a mod here that straight up called a poster an asshole and then just slapped her own wrist for it.

Can they ban everyone in a thread at once?

There have been times I’ve wanted to. No doubt.

In a thread…? :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s always been that way,sorta.
Though,I think mods of old brought the funny.

In the interest of fighting ignorance maybe a mod should give it a whirl.

I think a harsh tone can sometimes be helpful in communicating the severity of a particular infraction. I also think that, by posting in the Pit, you’re implicitly agreeing to a looser standard of civility to begin with. Not that I’m condoning outright abuse, but I don’t think bringing in a little “bad cop” to the moderation of the Pit is inappropriate.

That being said, I do want to justify the second post, where I warned spinky. Calling him a liar wasn’t just me taking a shot at him, it was part of the justification for the warning. Here’s the post he was warned for:

I felt it was important to let him know that I was not accepting his excuse. Given the open hostility he’d already expressed, I did not feel compelled to be particularly polite about it.

We do it occasionally to get a point across. People have also complained at times about the phrase “being a jerk,” since jerk isn’t a nice thing to call someone. We try to be polite unless the situation calls for something a little tougher.

“The reason I punched you so hard, Billy, is so you would know how naughty you were.”

I would disagree. Calling people names and including “witty” comments seems to distract from the serious tone and focus on the rudeness of the note.

Be nice.

"…and don’t you feel like shit, Billy, for forcing me with your naughtiness into punching you? "

For what it’s worth, I had just called him an idiot, so I don’t really feel like insulting me back was out of line. Although I like to think he really spoke it something like this:

That is, responding to my insult off-duty and then giving me a warning with the hat on. Seems fair to me.

Blame Cecil. Being snarky is part of his shtick and I think the moderation has followed his lead. People like to get their little zingers in.

Who doesn’t like zingers?