# Moderation in the Cat Avatar thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 14, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206 "2023-01-14T06:08:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/1 "2023-01-14T06:08:27Z")
I have a bone to pick with the [moderation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-avatars-on-the-dope/978151/50) in the [Cat Avatar thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-avatars-on-the-dope/978151). Did anyone seriously perceive Wolfpup’s playful joking as threadshitting??? Was it reported as threadshitting? Are cats really this thin-skinned that light-hearted teasing by a dog gets their fur up? I’m baffled that he’d be modded for joking in a thread where people are already joking about the supposed superiority of cats, and where people are joking back with him. In post #5, Tibby wrote > [@](#): > > Mark my meows, cats will one day rule the Earth. That day may be one day soon. 🙀 So Wolfpup playfully responds. And others were seeming to enjoy it. Was someone’s fur really rubbed the wrong way? Threadshitting is when you use a thread as a litterbox. That didn’t happen here. Wolfpup even tried to help someone fix their cat avatar, which isn’t easy for a dog. Please don’t mod the fun out the board. Or mod to the lowest level of humor-impairment. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/2 "2023-01-14T06:59:42Z")
I was thinking of starting a thread about that decision, but you beat me to it. Wolfpup has been joking about cats and dogs for years now. It’s a hyperbolically exaggerated pose that everyone has fun with and usually responds to with equally hyperbolic claims. @puzzlegal, I think a rethink is in order, here. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/3 "2023-01-14T07:47:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Threadshitting is when you use a thread as a litterbox. That didn’t happen here. Wolfpup even tried to help someone fix their cat avatar, which isn’t easy for a dog. Please don’t mod the fun out the board. Or mod to the lowest level of humor-impairment. As the subject of the mod note, I’m biased, of course, but I have to agree with the sentiments in this thread. I’ve never otherwise had issues with @puzzlegal’s moderation, but the mod note seemed uncharacteristically humourless. Unless one seriously believes my claim that I’m actually a dog, and therefore instinctively predisposed to disrupt cat threads. I mean, I’ve laid claim to canine heritage a number of times, but I assure you it’s not literally true. Can we please be a bit more lighthearted around here? Special thanks to @needscoffee, for the quoted bit. ETA: There might – maybe – have been a point to the mod note if that really had been a heartfelt thread about cat appreciation. But it was a thread about cat _ **avatars** _! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/4 "2023-01-14T09:08:08Z")
Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/5 "2023-01-14T09:40:46Z")
Naw, I say throw the bum outta here. The SDMB is no place for flea-bitten caninedians who lack the couth to even use a litter box properly! This place will be _purrr_fect without him and _his_ kind. _Bad dog!_ 😼 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/6 "2023-01-14T12:23:24Z")
Fair enough. They said he was high-classed. Well, that was just a lie. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/7 "2023-01-14T12:58:06Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Threadshitting is when you use a thread as a litterbox. That didn’t happen here. Wolfpup even tried to help someone fix their cat avatar, which isn’t easy for a dog. Please don’t mod the fun out the board. Or mod to the lowest level of humor-impairment. Agreed. Especially the last sentence. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/8 "2023-01-14T13:08:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > ETA: There might – maybe – have been a point to the mod note if that really had been a heartfelt thread about cat appreciation. But it was a thread about cat _ **avatars** _! Well, i think it had become a cat appreciation thread, and started out adjacent to one. And i was reacting to a report by an annoyed cat lover. But I’ve heard real cat-haters say things like what you wrote. I was a bit surprised to see your say those things, as your tend to be upbeat about pets. I apologize for not getting the joke, but note that i was not alone in that. So maybe the joke had gone on long enough. It wasn’t a formal warning. Maybe we can bathe each other’s faces and make up. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/9 "2023-01-14T21:36:05Z")
Thanks–I saw it as humor also. I admit I’m a dog guy (although the new rescue is trying me). ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/10 "2023-01-14T21:47:12Z")
I reported it. I did not see it as humor and it pissed me off. I just wanted to talk about cats and avatars, and ended up feeling compelled to defend them. I have no problem with it in a different thread, one not dedicated to cats. Hopefully, it can get back on topic now. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/11 "2023-01-14T21:51:03Z")
Distinction without major meaning. I didn’t consider it a threadshit, but it was something of a minor hijack, which the mods have been really Really good lately (depending on your POV of course 😜 about stomping out). And it was a note - if it had been a note about not hijacking the cat and cat love, I think few people would be in this thread, but the specific charge of threadshitting felt innapropriate. Just my two bits. I wouldn’t have (and didn’t) report it, but not going to say Helena330 was completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/12 "2023-01-14T21:56:30Z")
Never mind, I tried to delete this whole post but can’t figure out how. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/13 "2023-01-14T22:08:19Z")
You can’t. Once you start a thread, it belongs to the community. * * * I just want to point out that hijacking is only expressly prohibited in Politics & Elections and Great Debates. There is no prohibition in any other forum, so far as I know. Although I don’t recommend it in Factual Questions, either. There might be a rule about it there but it’s not one of my forums and I don’t find a prohibition based on a cursory review of the rules. ETA: We’ll still moderate hijacking in threads where it is done in a deliberate way or if there is a course of conduct for it by a poster. But inadvertent hijacking isn’t against the rules, although some might consider it poor form. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/14 "2023-01-14T22:12:32Z")
I totally agree with the OP. @wolfpup has picked, poked and cajoled me many times about my evil Siamese. I’ve never took umbrage. He’s funny and a very pleasant poster who really is a canine, I think. Thanks for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/15 "2023-01-14T22:31:17Z")
Was that in general thread or one of your stream-of-consciousness threads? That kind of talk is fine in appropriate threads. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/16 "2023-01-14T22:47:01Z")
Oh, come on. He’s in lots of my cat threads and when I had a very sick cat to try and get help for he was rooting for the cat. Don’t make that post of mine a target. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/17 "2023-01-14T22:47:23Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Was that in general thread or one of your stream-of-consciousness threads? That kind of talk is fine in appropriate threads. ⁢ And that exactly what the cat avatar thread was. A silly thread where people for people with cat avatars to come in and be silly and make jokes. @wolfpup’s posts were in the same vein, playing around because he has a dog avatar. The playful tone of the thread was established fairly early on. If someone wanted a thread to discuss cat stories, that’s how the thread would have started. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/18 "2023-01-14T22:50:04Z")
I have nothing against wolfpup. He’s always struck me as an amiable guy. My objection is to his posts in that thread. I don’t know what you mean about targeting your post. Certainly not my intention. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/19 "2023-01-14T22:51:57Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It wasn’t a formal warning. Maybe we can bathe each other’s faces and make up. Very nice, _purrr._ I think I’ll convert my nothing avatar to my late Rocco, the best cat I was ever owned by. Thank you, all. Dan ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206/20 "2023-01-15T02:32:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I apologize for not getting the joke In view of the prevailing feedback in this thread and the explanation that I and others have provided that my intent was just to add some lighthearted humour, I would think that the right thing to do would be to rescind the mod note, especially the completely inappropriate accusation of “thread shitting”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderation-in-the-cat-avatar-thread/978206.md?page=2)