# Newsflash: you run a messageboard, not a police state **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110 "2003-01-07T05:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/1 "2003-01-07T05:40:45Z")
A certain other [messageboard](http://www.froggyfrog.com/kitten/index.htm) that I frequent is the most restrictive place I have **ever** been, and that includes airport security. They have rules on what kind of avatar you may have (and no, it’s not something like “no porn/Faces Of Death clips”). They have rules on what subjects you may post on. They have rules on what may and may not be in the fanfic you post. They have rules on where you may get your avatar from (your own webpage **only** ). This last one is the one that gets me. Why not? Reason, please. Granted, it’s a “shipper” site, and it’s reasonable for them to remain focussed on the “ship” at hand. But I really think they go beyond the bounds of what is reasonable. There was a fic that was taken down, complete with snarkyness from a mod, just because of one kiss between two characters. It didn’t matter that the rest of the fic was about the relevant “ship”, oh no. That one kiss out of a multi-chaptered fic was enough to earn a slap on the wrist and some censorship on the side for flavour. I realize that everyone has the right to determine what is and is not acceptable to them on their property (ie webspace). I like rules. I think rules are good. I like the way they protect me at SDMB. I **do not** like the way they control, repress and miff me and others at that other MB. It really doesn’t help that the mod and webmistress is a bitca with no sense of humour. When asking a poster to remove or change something, she never does it with grace, humour or kindness and humility. It’s like being ordered around by a prison warden - except that if you’re in prison, you (probably) did something to deserve being there. And don’t even get me started on the cliquishness… half the people there have chips on their shoulders the size of Nebraska (how big is Nebraska anyway?). I know this is a lame rant, but I’m putting it here because it isn’t entirely logical. I KNOW that they can make up any damn fool rules they want (as stated above). I KNOW that I agreed to those rules when I signed up, blah blah blah. But something in me knows that these little pixilated dictators are annoyingly self-important. I also know that those nuts make me crazy. So I’m venting. Because venting prevents explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/2 "2003-01-07T05:46:17Z")
Most people would be surprised to learn that Nebraska is, in fact, only the size of a dime. ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/3 "2003-01-07T05:50:16Z")
The “avatar from your own site” thing is probably to protect them from the negative repercussions of bandwidth thievery. There’s a couple of sites out there (no names mentioned) whose admins, on discovering that a pic on their site is linked without permission, will replace the image with something remarkably unwholesome to discourage future offenses. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/4 "2003-01-07T05:58:38Z")
Ahhhhhh, thanks **apotheosis** , but does this apply to fansites that create universally-available avatars specifically _for_ people to link to? Didn’t think so. **You should have thought of that when you were making up your stupid rule, fascists!** I feel better now. Heh heh heh. 😃 ---
**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 7, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/5 "2003-01-07T06:05:54Z")
**kung fu lola** It is generally not a good idea to bring gripes about other message boards over here, particularly when you link to them. This can lead to Board Wars which are a bad thing. Haj ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/6 "2003-01-07T06:13:02Z")
Well, as long as ya got it out of your system. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/7 "2003-01-07T06:15:02Z")
Aww. I was all ready for a Coldfire/Uncle Beer/TubaDiva pile on, with the prerequisite songs (_And the Banned Played On_, _Rally Round the Strawman_, and _Admins, Ban Me One More Time_ (By the Concrete and Justhink)) and political smears (Fascist Socialism for Clogboy, Stalinist Anti-Semitism for Uncle Beer, and the dreaded triple-putz Marxist-Lenninist Maoist Hitlerism for TubaDiva) before the main course trainwreck, with total meltdown _flambe_ for dessert (yummy, shitheads Foster). You owe the Oracle … er, the Derleth … one moronic bigot taking the quick road to Banahattan. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/8 "2003-01-07T06:19:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*You owe the Oracle … er, the Derleth … one moronic bigot taking the quick road to Banahattan. \*\* **Guadere**? C’mere a minute… ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/9 "2003-01-07T06:22:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\ ***kung fu lola** > > It is generally not a good idea to bring gripes about other message boards over here, particularly when you link to them. This can lead to Board Wars which are a bad thing. > > \*\* Oh, good heavens, **Haj** , I really hope there is no one in the Universe with so much time on their hands that they would actually try to start a board war with these tiny little people. It would be a waste of valuble keystrokes. Honestly. Besides, my gripe isn’t nearly so serious as to warrant all that. I just needed to vent, really. If a mod had a blip of extra time though, they would please kindly disable the link, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/10 "2003-01-07T06:27:36Z")
Wow, lesbian witch romance fantasy/horror TV character fanfic Nazis? Man, don’t you sometimes wake up and wish the internet was just something having to do with hammocks or tennis rackets? ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/11 "2003-01-07T06:34:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RexDart \* > \*\*don’t you sometimes wake up and wish the internet was just something having to do with hammocks or tennis rackets? \*\* I saw a fanfic like that once. Man, it was _ **TWISTED** _. It’s amazing how far an imaginative mind can take a simple fishnet-stocking fetish story. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/12 "2003-01-07T06:36:12Z")
LOL, you found the Kitten board. Do you know why they are so restrictive? Because after Tara died last year they _all went insane_. I mean, I don’t blame them for being upset. Lord knows I’ll probably go insane if they kill Spike…but they want to keep out _everybody_ who is not a W/T shipper–and they especially want to keep out the Spike fans, and well, everybody who still likes BtVS. (As an aside, why would thye hate Spike? He didn’t even react with Willow and Tara). ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/13 "2003-01-07T06:42:06Z")
Anybody who would go over there to start a Board War deserves what happens when his head explodes from trying to follow all their rules. Geez, that’s the most completely anal-retentive MB I’ve ever seen. After browsing their FAQ, I heartily concur with the OP. Sheesh. They have “rules” for stuff that I would think wouldn’t need to be written down, like, “before posting to a thread, read the entire thread”. I mean, duh. :rolleyes: They have rules for how many times you can post per day as a newbie (4), and instructions like, “avoid posting two consecutive posts in the same thread”, and, “Do not quote entire posts immediately above yours. It’s repetitive and we want to keep the board smooth”. I mean, WTF? If their server is powered by dropping Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and harnessing the resultant energy, I guess that would explain it, but sheesh. And WTF is up with, “don’t post threads asking whether Willow is gay or bi” and, “don’t talk about the actors’ private lives”? And WTF is up with, “Personal insults directed at other kitties, any of the actors or characters, and of course Willow and Tara will not be tolerated.” Don’t say bad stuff about anybody and _especially_ not about these two fictional characters? And this is just completely strange. > [@](#): > > \*\*Anything having to do with Willow, Tara, Amber Benson or Alyson Hannigan is on topic. Currently Buffy the Vampire Slayer chose to abandon the Willow and Tara relationship, so it is no longer on topic. However, anything related to Willow, Tara, Amber or Aly is on topic as long as it doesn’t go against the Willow and Tara romantic relationship. We are a gay and lesbian friendly board. Any topic of interest to gays and lesbians will be ON topic, one thread per topic. Topics questioning W/T’s relationship, lack of chemistry or depth, etc. are NOT welcome. While other topics are welcome remember the focus, Willow and Tara. Don’t post things that would go against the credo of the board, w/t love all the time! So if you keep 2 things in mind you should be ok, the focus is w/t, and it is a gay and lesbian centered place. Also welcome are topics which are of great interest to most kitties. W/Other T/Other is OFF TOPIC and is not welcome on the board. \*\*So, the characters of Willow and Tara, and the actresses that portray them, are On Topic, but the show itself is no longer On Topic, since it chose to abandon Willow and Tara. But Willow and Tara are only On Topic as long as you are not “questioning their relationship, lack of chemistry, depth, etc.” and as long as you don’t talk about Willow with someone other than Tara, or Tara with someone other than Willow… I see. Willow and Tara 4Ever. And BTW, while you’re carefully _not_ talking about the show, if you must talk about the show’s writers, do not use bad language or otherwise make threats against them. I sense that the writers are not held in high esteem. Presumably this is due to their callously dropping the Willow and Tara storyline due to crass considerations of things like Nielsen ratings. > [@](#): > > _There was a fic that was taken down, complete with snarkyness from a mod, just because of one kiss between two characters. It didn’t matter that the rest of the fic was about the relevant “ship”, oh no. That one kiss out of a multi-chaptered fic was enough to earn a slap on the wrist and some censorship on the side for flavour._ There’s a rotating selection of pix at the bottom of the FAQ of two girls kissing. I don’t watch Buffy–I’m assuming that these are Willow and Tara? Why is a picture of two girls kissing okay, but a story isn’t? However did you find that place, Lola? Makes the SDMB look like a Hippie Dippie “whatever floats your boat” love-in. And, I’m sorry, but, “The Kitten, The Witches and The Bad Wardrobe”? :rolleyes: Somebody shoot me… > [@](#): > > \*\*We would like to thank everyone on chat that night when we all voted on the name. You will never know how many names we came up with. \*\*I don’t even like to think about it. “Where the Really Wild Things Are”? “The Kittens in the Hat”? “Little Gay Women”? “Two Little Princesses”? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/14 "2003-01-07T06:42:19Z")
Um, shipper=worshipper? Of Willow and Tara? ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/15 "2003-01-07T06:49:24Z")
**Troy** , shipper = “relationshipper”; someone who is “into” a certain pairing of characters. > [@](#): > > **There’s a rotating selection of pix at the bottom of the FAQ of two girls kissing. I don’t watch Buffy–I’m assuming that these are Willow and Tara? Why is a picture of two girls kissing okay, but a story isn’t?** OK I **really** don’t want a board war here… (mods! help!) Yes those girls are Willow and Tara. The story had one scene in the intro where Willow kisses _gasp_ Faith! And then proceeds to have much cuddliness with Tara. So the Faith kiss **obviously** had to go. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/16 "2003-01-07T06:55:54Z")
…So you’re posting this here, instead of taking your gripes (in a more polite form, of course) to the admin over there… why? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/17 "2003-01-07T07:04:02Z")
Kung Fu Lola, I sympathize with anyone who has participated in an authoritarian forum. I have had just the opposite problem. Although I am opposed to censorship, I find some “no rules” forums can also become virtually worthless. I was a participant at a forum that was supposed to be about the ideas and work of a well-known doctor who is also a spiritual teacher. But the publishing house responsible for the site has abandoned it or has chosen a no holes barred approach. There are apparently no rules. There are about ten regular participants and a few who drop in from time to time. The teacher whose work it is about is not active. I am surprised at how “inbred” that particular forum has become. It has one or two voices of sanity but the rest of it is delusional, paranoid, full of vapid quotations used as weapons, political posts, ethnic attacks, libel. only slightly-veiled threats, philosophical bubble gum and large-lettered, repetitive long drive-by posts copied from still another forum. SDMB’s policies look awfully good to me after that experience. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/18 "2003-01-07T07:25:55Z")
Ah, so Willow kissed Faith and was being unfaithful to Tara. Given that, the mod’s outrage makes _perfect_ sense. :rolleyes: Daojawan, what’s she supposed to say to them? “You’re all a bunch of jackbooted MB Nazis, lighten up”? You know how well that goes down, here at the SDMB Hippie Dippie Love Fest–imagine how some _actual_ MB Nazis would take it, especially MB Nazis who are busy being totally obsessed with (lemme see if I have this straight) a couple of TV characters who have been written out of their TV show, one of whom by being killed off? So technically, one of them is, like, dead? As well as being fictional? And cancelled? Right. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/19 "2003-01-07T07:34:14Z")
There is a really simple way to piss off control freaks who are desperate to control the rules of the game: don’t play the game. Walk. Let your feet do the talking. Kick that popsicle stand. Let them have their bat and ball, but leave them with no one to play with. If you’re not prepared to do so, stop whinging. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110/20 "2003-01-07T07:52:49Z")
And you _wanted_ to participate in a message board with a bunch of horny loser geeks because…? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-you-run-a-messageboard-not-a-police-state/147110.md?page=2)