In this thread, http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=833811, I received a mod note (my first, I think!). It’s fine and I surely deserve it. However, my (hopefully obvious) joke seemed pretty mild to me, especially compared to how the moderator himself (herself?) replied to the same poster later.
These kinds of things are tricky because I really do see how different people can see them differently. My own opinion, since you asked for opinions, is that “It makes one appear to be simply JAQing off and not participating in the discussion in good faith” sounds like an accusation of trolling. Having said that, I’m pretty sure that at least the “JAQing off” part has gone unmoderated in GD, so maybe the mods have agreed it’s OK, or maybe they all just think it’s OK without having had any discussion about it. As for the “not participating in good faith” part, I’m pretty sure I have seen that moderated before. I could be wrong, and will happily admit to it if I am.
At any rate, the mods do seem often to jump in to prevent things from getting personal, which I think is a good thing in a forum like GD. And a mod note, not a warning, seems appropriate since it’s usually not some nasty insult that’s involved.
Thanks for your opinion, that’s why I opened this. I don’t think the mod note was inappropriate, but it struck me that tomndebb’s comments were at least as personal, and coming just a few posts after my note seemed weird.
I also agree. To me the OP’s comment was innocuous and was just adding a bit of levity to the thread. I’ve also seen people get mod notes (can’t link to any examples), when it was obvious to me that they were quoting a movie or a song, but the mod didn’t get the reference & it was perceived as insulting or junior modding.