# Mod rewrites an OP and tells us to respond to the re-write, not the OP? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 16, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335 "2015-07-16T16:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/62 "2015-07-18T21:00:36Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > It’s not like there’s no precedent for mods keeping threads on track by instructing what is not a proper reply. Which is not what I claimed, so I don’t know why you are bringing it up. Should I now be able to get the mods to say that your interpretation of my post is wrong and you are not allowed to carry on along those lines? The claim is that Tom decided what the OP meant and forced everyone else to agree. That type of moderation has never happened before. It would be one thing if he just said to stop attacking him. Instead, he decided what the OP really meant and declared from on high that this was the only possible interpretation allowed in the thread. What Tom did was cut off any ability to argue with the OP about what he said. And that’s just never happened on this board. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/63 "2015-07-19T05:10:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > What Tom did was cut off any ability to argue with the OP about what he said. He did nothing of the sort. Apart from the fact that the OP was _not engaged in the discussion at all_, his errors had been thoroughly addressed by the time **tom~** posted. . ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/64 "2015-07-19T16:12:09Z")
I denounce the tension with mirth on the sound of “cure”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/65 "2015-07-19T19:18:38Z")
> [@andros](#): > > He did nothing of the sort. Apart from the fact that the OP was _not engaged in the discussion at all_, his errors had been thoroughly addressed by the time **tom~** posted. > . In that case, since the Op did a “seagull” Tom should have just closed the thread. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/66 "2015-07-19T19:53:56Z")
I don’t see that. Despite the iffy thread title, **Rune** raised issues that were vigorously debated. Many times OPs abandon threads they start which carry on just fine without them. Your statement seems to presuppose that OPs somehow own the threads they start, which should then be razed to the ground like derelict houses when they don’t return. Not so. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/67 "2015-07-19T21:25:25Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > I don’t see that. Despite the iffy thread title, **Rune** raised issues that were vigorously debated. Many times OPs abandon threads they start which carry on just fine without them. Your statement seems to presuppose that OPs somehow own the threads they start, which should then be razed to the ground like derelict houses when they don’t return. Not so. Well, not always. But when a Mod needs to come in and rewrite the OP and tell everyone to stick to the new concept on pain of dire punishment, maybe it’s better just to start a new Op. Hell, Tom could have done that. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/68 "2015-07-19T21:44:15Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > And then tomndebb swoops in at post 19 and re-writes the OP’s question and tells us all to reply the the new version of the OP. I’ve never seen this before, and I don’t think it’s right. Yeah, of course. But “right” is not the law of the land. [Do as you are instructed at all times, or else.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18519918&postcount=102) ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/69 "2015-07-19T22:01:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, not always. But when a Mod needs to come in and rewrite the OP and tell everyone to stick to the new concept on pain of dire punishment, **maybe it’s better just to start a new Op.** Hell, Tom could have done that. (Emphasis added) Maybe. Maybe not. Myself, I think it’s a judgement call. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/70 "2015-07-19T22:06:23Z")
I often respond to the OP, before slogging through a thousand posts about it. A Mod instruction buried within a thread, that all must follow or face disaster, is an odious burden, and quite against common sense. If this is to be the law of the land, it should appear within the OP. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/71 "2015-07-19T22:11:07Z")
Good point. God knows, I hate slogging through thousands of posts before responding to an OP as well. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/72 "2015-07-20T01:44:49Z")
If one cannot be bothered to read a thread, one should not bother to respond to it. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/73 "2015-07-20T02:37:19Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > If one cannot be bothered to read a thread, one should not bother to respond to it. QFT. I don’t really understand the point of directly addressing the OP if the conversation has moved into other territory or my points have already been discussed. Which will certainly have happened in any thread with more than a few dozen responses. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/74 "2015-07-20T10:22:29Z")
Since when do moderators moderate the actual debate, rather than just moderating the rules? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/75 "2015-07-20T13:22:49Z")
I’ve done it once in a great while when I thought a poster was debating dishonestly or attempting to intentionally derail a thread. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335/76 "2015-07-20T15:21:42Z")
Dishonesty and hijacking are both valid things to moderate. But supplanting the OP with your own interpretation down-thread as a mod note? That’s weird. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mod-rewrites-an-op-and-tells-us-to-respond-to-the-re-write-not-the-op/725335.md?page=3)