# Mods--Can an OP do this? Was I a jerk? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804 "2004-06-11T13:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804/21 "2004-06-12T18:31:35Z")
Seems to me if a mod starts a thread… he (or she) should give up all mod rights there. Just be a regular poster. YMMV… and I don’t really care about your mileage. Just seems like a set-up if you’re going to start a thread and then lay in wait to (officially) admonish people. Real pussy move, if you ask me! YMMV… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804/22 "2004-06-12T18:46:59Z")
Well, it’s a good thing no one asked you, then. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804/23 "2004-06-12T19:35:06Z")
I dunno, **Jimmy** , I kind of agree with **if6**. It’s got to be harder to stay objective about modding your own thread, and it seems to lead to, erm, more vigorous moderation. I mean, really, a mild mod comment over a hijack? When have you _ever_ seen that in a poll thread before? Poll threads tend to at least partially go off on tangents. It’s just the nature of the beast, and although the OP can try to redirect the discussion, as long as the hijack isn’t turning ugly, it never draws official moderator attention. Except, apparently, when the OP is a mod. If it wouldn’t draw a warning from you in somebody else’s thread, it damn well oughtn’t draw one in your own thread. That just smacks of “it’s _my_ ball, so _I_ get to make the rules” type childishness. If the mods are unable to be objective about their own threads, they shouldn’t be allowed to moderate in them. If there’s a problem, they can bloody well use the “report post” button like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804/24 "2004-06-12T19:45:34Z")
Well, you agree that it was a “pussy move” which was engineered so **Czarcasm** could lie in wait to admonish people, or you agree that it causes great confusion when moderators act in the sort of in-between zone? There were mixed signals given in that thread, certainly, but to accuse **Czarcasm** of setting some kind of trap is asinine. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804/25 "2004-06-12T19:55:39Z")
I agree that mods ought to give up their modding rights in their own threads, as well as that any comments made in a moderator capacity in a thread where said mod has been participating as a regular poster need to be clearly marked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-can-an-op-do-this-was-i-a-jerk/249804.md?page=1)