# Moderator behaviour (not by a newbie) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882 "2001-01-07T19:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/101 "2001-01-09T13:26:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zen101 \* > Coldfire have I ever pretended to thing you were anything other than an asshole? Whoa, now. What the hell did I do to deserve that moniker? Allow me to perform a quick search… Ah, right. I remember now. I hurt your feelings by not giving you enough credit in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49833). By the looks of it, I must have made quite an impression. Would you believe I had forgotten about it? I was merely reacting to your statement that “The rest of you mods shoulda’ fucken let Manhattan say his bit before getting involved. It may have still gotten hot in here but some of the crap you guys sling in defence of your decisions reeks like ripe monkey shit”. Them’s strong words, **zen101** , and I hate to see them unsubstantiated. That’s not _baiting_. It’s playing fair. > [@](#): > > I may agree with you from time to time and I let it be known if I do otherwise when I’m talking shit about “mods” in general and you have a moment of self doubt you can just chuck your name in there on GP. k? Paraphrasing, if I may: you may agree with my points of view as a poster at times, but that doesn’t stop you from thinking I’m a bad moderator “on general principles”. Sounds like great substantiating to me. > [@](#): > > As for my statement about “mods jumping in prior to Manhattan saying his bit” well that should be pretty obvious to you. You piped in prior to that didn’t ya? Yes, but so did some other moderators. I was merely curious who “some of you mods” was refering to. > [@](#): > > Threw up the vague and empty line about goings on behind the scenes of which us mortals be unaware didn’t ya? Errr, not really, I’d say. In my reply, I expressed my opinion on both cases addressed by the honourable **matt\_mcl**. He asked a fair question, and did in my opinion not specify that _only manhattan or UncleBeer answer it_. If I may be so bold to say so, I’m sure he appreciated my answer. That’s all I care about. Whether you find it appropriate or not that I answer before **manhattan** is not something that influences my decisions. Not even in hindsight. Furthermore, I don’t think I was vague, and I don’t think people interpreted it as such. > [@](#): > > If you ask me what 1 and 1 equals do I need to show you the work or can you get it on your own? Are you prone to bouts of forgetting the contents of your own posts and I need to go over it slowly? I’m prone to take a liking to actual evidence rather than cowardly hollow cursing. Hence my request for a clarification. > [@](#): > > Here is the limbo pole you tell me if you fit in under the bar: You are a mod. You posted your defence of Hatty’s actions before he even poseted his own accounting of it. _Possible explanation_, not defence. If there’s anyone who doesn’t require help defending himself, it’s gonna be **manny**. You ought to give him more credit than that. > [@](#): > > You post generalized reasons which may or may not have anything to do with the specific OP here but all serve to justify any actions a mod takes because they are so vague. Look, you dolt. I’m trying to explain some motivations and reasons that may influence a moderators decisions. _I do this in earnest, and by no means to “keep things vague”, or whatever you call it._ If you doubt my intentions, then that’s **your** problem. I was just trying to answer the question as asked by **matt\_mcl**. > [@](#): > > If that smells like you the it is you and anyone else who fits under the bar. Don’t bait me coldy I’m almost off work and I can’t get stuck here responding to you all morning. This ain’t a debate, you know my opinion and I know yours. _Now_ I know your opinion. Rediculous as it may be. I won’t bait you any further, **zen**. But I’m really curious what you mean by saying you know _my_ opinion. On what, precisely? Drive safely now. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/102 "2001-01-09T13:43:50Z")
I would like to thank the moderators and my colleagues for their helpful participation in this exchange of views. I would like to kindly request that parties attempting to start a fistfight in it be so kind as to _ **GO AWAY.** _ Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/103 "2001-01-09T13:46:47Z")
Sheesh, Manny posts once to a perfectly good pit thread and suddenly this turns into a 60’s pinko hippy love-in. Jeez Manny, did you have to be so goddamn rational? so, quit talking like his shit don’t smell and get back to the point of the thread. grrr. ---
**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 9, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/104 "2001-01-09T14:06:10Z")
A few of the Teeming Millions think that there wasn’t enough info given out about why someone is or isn’t punished. The Mods explain, to the best of their abilities, what the procedure is. Then zen101 chimes in, complaining that we _shouldn’t_ be talking about it. I’m not getting paid enough for this, dammit! I want a Straight Dope coffee mug, AND two packets of non-dairy coffee creamer. 🙂 Look, folks, we simply don’t have the time to persue private vendettas. With a 56K modem, I have to go through every thread in IMHO, looking for double posts, moving threads that don’t belong, fulfilling editing requests I recieve in my e-mail, and checking every single link made in posts to make sure that it doesn’t link up to an x-rated site or a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes hours to do this in IMHO, and \*I/i] don’t have the trolls and sock puppets that plague some of the other forums. Alright, I’m declaring this pityparty officially over. 🙂 [Edited by slythe on 01-09-2001 at 08:08 AM] ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/105 "2001-01-09T14:35:28Z")
I, for one, think it’s pretty cool that a discussion about a moderator’s actions can be explained and discussed this sensibly and reasonably. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the attack and counter-attack threads that seem to be the norm on this topic. Too bad it doesn’t look like it’ll end that way. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Moss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doc\_Moss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Moss)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/106 "2001-01-09T14:49:47Z")
Based on slythe’s previous post, and manhattan’s earlier post saying that he had just read 150 posts and was too drained to keep going, perhaps a solution would be introduce a larger number of moderators on to each forum. UncleBeer seems to have to dedicate A LOT of his time to these boards, ditto manhattan. An increase in the number of mod’s on each board would mean that they would just have to check in from day to day to see what’s going on, check a few threads and leave. If something crops up that needs attending to, chances at least ONE of the mods will see it. Hmm? ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/107 "2001-01-09T14:53:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\* > It’s a refreshing change of pace from the attack and counter-attack threads that seem to be the norm on this topic. > > Too bad it doesn’t look like it’ll end that way. \*\* Don’t worry, **CnoteChris**. If this thread has one clear theme it’s “ya can’t win 'em all.” People will take from it what they will. :::shrugs::: Veb ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/108 "2001-01-09T15:31:25Z")
I’m not going to lie here. The powerplay of this post is turning me on. I think I’m in love with Coldfire AND Manny…do you carry whips? I’ve been a bad girl 😉 jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/109 "2001-01-09T15:43:49Z")
No whips, but I can slap you silly with my **Moderator Mug** [sup]TM[/sup], if that’s your fancy 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/110 "2001-01-09T17:08:17Z")
Thanks, **manhattan** , for an admirable reply. That’s exactly what was needed. As far as I am concerned, it resolves the issues that I raised. I consider the matter closed. I do have the upmost respect for anyone who tries to deal with such an active forum as GQ. As you remark, there _are_ clearly some problems in GQ. I have a few suggestions that I hope may be helpful but I think I will post them on ATMB. However, I would concur with **Doc Moss’s** suggestion that an additional moderator or two might help alleviate some of the workload. Having to slog through 150 posts does seem excessive. And I would agree with the sentiment that **zen101** should STFU. Attacks on **Coldfire** don’t have any place on this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882/111 "2001-01-09T19:46:29Z")
Yeah, zen seems to have something in mind aside from a rational discussion of moderator policy. I’m happy that we were able to have a useful discussion prior to the bile. I’m gonna close this thread since zen seems to be using it as an excuse to insult others. I think it’s fair to say that that’s far from what matt\_mcl intended this thread to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderator-behaviour-not-by-a-newbie/48882.md?page=5)