# Modding for content **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187 "2011-01-11T03:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/41 "2011-01-11T14:32:04Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > The question that \*\*PlainJane \*\*and \*\*BigT \*\*have asked about the harm leaving threads like these open has never, as far as I’m aware, been answered by the mods. Sure it has. See Post #2. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/42 "2011-01-11T14:43:04Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > We’re now 40 posts deep, and an extremely small percentage of posts are defending the decision. Ignoring the OP and modder, I count 13 posters against, 6 posters defending. 6/19=32% defending. I’m guessing that once you account for selection bias, it’s about 50-50. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/43 "2011-01-11T15:03:41Z")
Count me in as supporting the decision to close the silly thing. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/44 "2011-01-11T15:09:03Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > Ignoring the OP and modder, I count 13 posters against, 6 posters defending. 6/19=32% defending. I’m guessing that once you account for selection bias, it’s about 50-50. You don’t think there’s a little selection bias in your guesstimate of selection bias? ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/45 "2011-01-11T15:09:26Z")
If a straw poll is what you’re looking for, I have no problem with it being closed either. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/46 "2011-01-11T15:16:39Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You don’t think there’s a little selection bias in your guesstimate of selection bias? It was a biased WAG. Not a “selection bias,” though, btw. ETA: looks like it’s up to 38% defending ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/47 "2011-01-11T15:59:22Z")
Put me down in the “bad call” column. If the rule is going to be that all threads have to be destined to center on topics of substance, IMHO and MPSIMS is going to be pretty empty. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/48 "2011-01-11T16:11:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Put me down in the “bad call” column. > > If the rule is going to be that all threads have to be destined to center on topics of substance, IMHO and MPSIMS is going to be pretty empty. Bad example; anything “too mundane and/or pointless for MPSIMS” gets closed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/49 "2011-01-11T16:25:35Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > The question that \*\*PlainJane \*\*and \*\*BigT \*\*have asked about the harm leaving threads like these open has never, as far as I’m aware, been answered by the mods. “What’s the harm”. Is that _really_ the standard here? If someone posts a thread consisting of 23 rows of the letter “Q”, there is no actual harm but I’m going to close it anyway. If another person posts a thread titled “What is your favorite?” and doesn’t specify anything in the first post, there isn’t any harm but (imho as a moderator) I’m shutting it down for being too vague. There are myriad ways a thread can be inappropriate without being “harmful”, and one of the many jobs of a moderator is to take care of those threads. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/50 "2011-01-11T16:31:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “What’s the harm”. > Is that _really_ the standard here? If someone posts a thread consisting of 23 rows of the letter “Q”, there is no actual harm but I’m going to close it anyway. If another person posts a thread titled “What is your favorite?” and doesn’t specify anything in the first post, there isn’t any harm but (imho as a moderator) I’m shutting it down for being too vague. There are myriad ways a thread can be inappropriate without being “harmful”, and one of the many jobs of a moderator is to take care of those threads. There are myriad ways I’d be able to define each of those threads as harmful. Why can’t you do so for the thread you closed? A few months ago, there was a poster who posted (actually, still does post) ridiculously thought-out and ill-formed threads. They’d get 0-1 responses and sink like a stone. He’d post several a day in each forum. I reported a few of them, asking the moderation to say something to him, since it was bloody annoying. The response I got was “if you have a problem, then pit him”. Frankly, I didn’t think that was that bad of a mod call. I started a pit thread, he didn’t participate, but the stupid-ass threads thinned out for a while (I hope he got the hint, and hope he will again). If Curtis’ threads are getting under your skin, Czarcasm, why not just tell him? Why not put him on a “no threads for a month” probation? The thread you closed wasn’t, by itself, a problematic thread in the same way a thread full of Qs would be. I will agree that the potential for that thread was low. Not because it wasn’t interesting, but because the board as a whole pretty much knows that even if we come in and start participating, Curtis is going to abandon it and get distracted by something shiny and start a new one up in an hour or so. So moderate \*that \*behavior instead. Wouldn’t that be more productive? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/51 "2011-01-11T16:40:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’d like to think that were true, but the comments section on YouTube, once again, crushes my hopes. So the difference between youtube and here is due to the moderators? Thank you so much for saving us from ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/52 "2011-01-11T16:48:26Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > The OP did seem to lack focus Alternatively, could it be that most of us lack the skills necessary to evaluate the OP? Maybe **Curtis** is a superior individual. Bad call. ---
**Author:** ![lisalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@lisalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisalan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/53 "2011-01-11T16:49:24Z")
His poll had too many options but a lot of thought was put into it. More thought then lets say a post about an IUD coming out. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/54 "2011-01-11T16:49:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > So the difference between youtube and here is due to the moderators? Thank you so much for saving us from ourselves. Leaving aside the rhetoric in your second sentence, what do _you_ think makes this board different from youtube, if it isn’t the style of moderation? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/55 "2011-01-11T16:53:13Z")
What do people really think the motives are of somebody who posts a poll with 75 options to a message board? I do not believe for one second that a massive shit-stirring, “wait till they see this one” grin was not on the face of the person who made that poll. I would wager that the answer to that question is more important to the mods than the actual content of the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/56 "2011-01-11T17:08:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Leaving aside the rhetoric in your second sentence, what do _you_ think makes this board different from youtube, if it isn’t the style of moderation? It could be any of number of things. I’d say right off the top of my head that the membership here skews substantially older than youtube, for starters. We have few enough teens here that it is of note when one is (supposedly) 15 years old. My general impression is that a majority here are no younger than mid-to-late twenties with an awful lot of people older than that. We also seem to have a goodly number of professional people who are highly educated. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/57 "2011-01-11T17:13:57Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It could be any of number of things. I’d say right off the top of my head that the membership here skews substantially older than youtube, for starters. We have few enough teens here that it is of note when one is (supposedly) 15 years old. My general impression is that a majority here are no younger than mid-to-late twenties with an awful lot of people older than that. We also seem to have a goodly number of professional people who are highly educated. And what do you think attracts them here? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/58 "2011-01-11T17:14:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Leaving aside the rhetoric in your second sentence, what do _you_ think makes this board different from youtube, if it isn’t the style of moderation? Do you think that leaving the thread open would have resulted in the boards being stormed by a mongul horde of YouTube teenagers? “Quick! Check out this thread with 75 poll options on points of divergence in the history of the world and the resulting alternate timelines they’d create! Hurry up and post a thread full of Qs!!” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/59 "2011-01-11T17:19:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And what do you think attracts them here? Conversation with other people of similar levels of education and interests. People join discussion boards in order to have discussions with the other members, not because the moderators are just so, well, very very awesome. Here’s a question for you: How many youtube-style threads do the moderators kill on any given day? 50? 100? I’m guessing a great many less than that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187/60 "2011-01-11T17:19:34Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Do you think that leaving the thread open would have resulted in the boards being stormed by a mongul horde of YouTube teenagers? “Quick! Check out this thread with 75 poll options on points of divergence in the history of the world and the resulting alternate timelines they’d create! Hurry up and post a thread full of Qs!!” No, but I am capable of more subtle lines of thought than “Everything is all peaches and cream…OMG!!! THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!!!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modding-for-content/567187.md?page=4)