# Is there a such thing as rude moderating?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-rude-moderating/694601>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 1, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-rude-moderating/694601 "2014-08-01T20:32:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 12

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-rude-moderating/694601/12 "2014-08-01T21:42:00Z")

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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:

> [@The only answer possible for a GQ question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-answer-possible-for-a-gq-question/694269/97):
>
> > [@The only answer possible for a GQ question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-answer-possible-for-a-gq-question/694269/93):
> >
> > Nah, I’m just going with a warning.
> > 
> > [Moderating]  
> > **PlainJain** , this is a formal warning for complaining about moderator actions in the Pit.
> > 
> > Don’t spend it all in one place.  
> > [/Moderating]
> 
> You’re an idiot. And I’m not referring to your moderating. You’re just an idiot.

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.

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