# Officially protesting the warning Colibri gave me. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 21, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390 "2011-10-21T20:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/41 "2011-10-22T16:47:32Z")
She first made a formal application to the SDMB Appeal Board for leave to appeal. They granted leave, which permitted her to then make the official appeal. Haven’t you read the FAQ? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/42 "2011-10-22T16:48:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Standard procedure would be to remind Stoid that “complaints about moderation should go in ATMB” > > Threatening to issue a warning for it is not standard procedure. Sure it is. I see it all the time. > [@](#): > > There are several threads every day that are posted in inappropriate forums. Most of them don’t get a warning, or even the threat of a warning, just a polite mod comment as to appropriate forums,. Not the same thing, and it’s often a simple mistake. But if people continually do it after being around for a long time, they do get threatened with a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/43 "2011-10-22T16:55:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But if people continually do it after being around for a long time, they do get threatened with a warning. Exactly. They get a warning if they do it CONTINUALLY. Not if they do it once. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/44 "2011-10-22T16:59:14Z")
So, out of curiosity, posters seem to get a cease-and-desist note first, then an official Warning if they continue the out-of-line behaviour, but that didn’t seem to happen here. Is that because **Stoid** is an old-timer? Would a n00b have been granted more leeway? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/45 "2011-10-22T17:11:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Exactly. They get a warning if they do it CONTINUALLY. Not if they do it once. And **Stoid** did it once and didn’t get a warning. But I believe that complaining about moderator action outside ATMB is considered a major infraction around here as it has the potential to derail a thread. Posting in the wrong forum is a minor infraction, unless it becomes a habit. Long time posters are supposed to know not to complain about moderator action outside ATMB. The threat of a warning if it continues is a good way to stop it in its tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/46 "2011-10-22T17:13:15Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > But in the last couple of months I have found myself being taken to task repeatedly by moderators, in every single case for things which are in no way whatsoever new, different or unusual or for things which the mod is actually completely wrong about as a matter of plain fact in terms of what actually occurred, and this includes the FIRST warning I have received here, mentioned above by someone else, only a week or two ago. (Which I addressed privately). > > What’s particularly strange and infuriating about it is that, as Stoidal SDMB participation goes, things have been pretty low-key lately. So… WTF??? > > Is there something in the air? New rules someone forgot to alert me to? Really, seriously…WTF? \*You raise up your head And you ask, “Is this where it is?”… And somebody else says, “Where what is?” And you say, “Oh my God Am I here all alone?” Because something is happening here But you don’t know what it is Do you, Missus Stoid?\* ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/47 "2011-10-22T18:12:23Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Just curious - what makes this “official”? Was it notarized? Public. On the record. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > And **Stoid** did it once and didn’t get a warning. But I believe that complaining about moderator action outside ATMB is considered a major infraction around here as it has the potential to derail a thread. Posting in the wrong forum is a minor infraction, unless it becomes a habit. Long time posters are supposed to know not to complain about moderator action outside ATMB. The threat of a warning if it continues is a good way to stop it in its tracks. I think it just stirs up shit unnecessarily for the most part. But I realize that’s a popular form of entertainment so I bow to the majority view. As it happens, though, since I do have such an extensive history of, well, no history at all when it comes to being moderated, I don’t actually have all these rules ingrained. I don’t pay all that much attention to this sort of thing one way or another, so I really didn’t get that \*\*\*any response \*\*\*to a moderator’s action HAD to be turned into a whole new thread, attracting a whole new host of people to come along and weigh in on something they hadn’t been aware of at all before, but evidently that is the rule. (Anyone who cares to make a study of it will note that in addition to refraining from insulting people, I also refrain from participating in Pit threads directed at SDMB posters, and of course I nearly never spend any time in this forum at all, because as a rule spending my leisure time talking about the SDMB itself strikes me as a tad navel-gazey.) And here’s what I think: the rule is absolutely _ **not** _ in place to minimize disruption of the thread in question (an issue that is largely bogus to begin with…we’re adults, the net’s established, we’re all capable of skipping posts in a thread and do it pretty much constantly) its in place to prevent complaints altogether, because unless it’s egregious, as it was here, most people don’t want to make a big deal out of it and turn it into a whole new thread full of judgment and opinion. So an ironclad rule that you have to wave a flag and make a fuss in front of the whole class if you don’t like what a mod does is a pretty effective way of making sure a lot of bad moderating goes unchallenged. Which, of course, like anything that is allowed to go unchecked, allows it to expand and multiply. The part of it that bothers me the most, though, is how it undermines the Straight Dope ethos. But that’s a battle I fear was lost some time ago. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/48 "2011-10-22T18:33:54Z")
Not really. You notice that this forum gets much less traffic than the other forums. In your world, this discussion we’re having here would be taking place in the GQ thread. Maybe minus a few posters, but still with many of them chiming in. The Man isn’t trying to keep you down. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/49 "2011-10-22T18:42:26Z")
I think the whole thing is silly. Using the reasoning that someone who has been around for a long time with no prior rules violations “should know better” and therefore deserves a harsher penalty doesn’t make sense - it’s much more reasonable to assume that they do, in fact, know better and that a mistake or a wrong turn of phrase was made rather than think that they meant something more. A mod note would have been a much more appropriate response. While discussion of a warning or note is much more suited to ATMB, I think acknowledging the note/warning within the thread is pretty standard around here. No one ever complains if someone says “Oh, oops, sorry!” in response, but if they disagree with the warning, suddenly they get threatened with a second one? Again, that’s just silly. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/50 "2011-10-22T19:17:53Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Speaking as someone who was also warned recently for reasons I know not why, I have to say … who cares? Chrissakes, it’s not like you’ve been thrown in the Gulag. > > For my warning – for derailing a discussion (in a post that was pretty much on a par with everything I’ve ever posted here) – my take was, “Eh, I don’t get it, so I guess I’ll just keep posting the way I’ve always posted and let the chips fall where they may.” > > I mean if you’re not a habitual offender, what difference does a warning make in the first palce? Are you concerned with your permanent record or something? I have to say I was pretty surprised at that warning. It wasn’t clear to me why you got it, as I’m not aware of what rule you broke and, IIRC, the mod note didn’t exactly say. Your post was very funny, and the only thing I can think of is it’s not so cool to post a joke reply as the first response in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/51 "2011-10-22T19:38:56Z")
This entire discussion reminds me of a Brady Bunch exchange (paraphrasing from memory): Mom: “Be nice to your brother.” Greg: “But Mom, Bobby’s being such a…_stinker!_” Mom (frowning): “Greg, you know I don’t like that word.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/52 "2011-10-22T21:54:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I think the whole thing is silly. Using the reasoning that someone who has been around for a long time with no prior rules violations “should know better” and therefore deserves a harsher penalty doesn’t make sense - it’s much more reasonable to assume that they do, in fact, know better and that a mistake or a wrong turn of phrase was made rather than think that they meant something more. A mod note would have been a much more appropriate response. Nah, it makes perfect sense. I mean, the mods all have thousands of posts and years of experience each, and they \*never \* make any mistakes. And if they did, obviously they would be completely receptive to the complaints issued by the masses, much as posters with an extensive history should be made examples of to reinforce the rule-set. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > And **Stoid** did it once and didn’t get a warning. But I believe that complaining about moderator action outside ATMB is considered a major infraction around here as it has the potential to derail a thread. This brings up another issue–why not just privatize mod notes? I can’t think of any reason they need to be public in the circumstance that you’re addressing a single individual. The public notes are largely the source of thread derailments of this type, as you’ll never stomp out people complaining about it in the same thread. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/53 "2011-10-22T22:42:00Z")
Ok, it seems to me that a mod note rather than a warning would have been appropriate in this case. I’ll furthermore opine that management should consider the intensity and context of each warning before proceeding to Level 2. I suspect they do that anyway. That said, **Stoid** : I understand that the post is consistent with the Stoid code. But personal characterizations are really inappropriate in GQ. IMHO. No, such characterizations are not all against the rules. But they are (again IMHO) bad form. And they are so easy to reword. Separately, methinks that you’ve made your point, should let the matter slide, and should furthermore tweak your posting style accordingly. ETA: Oh yeah, I didn’t see any scolding in the GQ thread, YMMV obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/54 "2011-10-22T22:54:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have to say I was pretty surprised at that warning. It wasn’t clear to me why you got it, as I’m not aware of what rule you broke and, IIRC, the mod note didn’t exactly say. Your post was very funny, and the only thing I can think of is it’s not so cool to post a joke reply as the first response in the thread. I figured it had to do with the plethora of pornographic imagery, but I didn’t know how better to describe Justin Timberlake’s penile activities. That, and I’d lay odds that someone reported the post in a snit. Either way … 11 years in and I get my first official warning (that I can remember). I’ve been wondering what the hell I’ve been doing wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/55 "2011-10-22T23:20:57Z")
Your posts often bring a smile to my face. That warning came from out of left field, was totally uncalled for, and says a lot about that moderator given that the warning still stands. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/56 "2011-10-22T23:25:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Standard procedure would be to remind Stoid that “complaints about moderation should go in ATMB” > > Threatening to issue a warning for it is not standard procedure. Sure it is. Happens all the time. I’ve seen it repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/57 "2011-10-22T23:31:53Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > That, and I’d lay odds that someone reported the post in a snit. One of the first thoughts I had about this case actually. “I bet a certain person actually went and reported that they had been called a scold”. You can just imagine my opinion of this. ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/58 "2011-10-23T00:34:59Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > One of the first thoughts I had about this case actually. “I bet a certain person actually went and reported that they had been called a scold”. You can just imagine my opinion of this. You think it sucketysucks? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/59 "2011-10-23T09:25:33Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > You think it sucketysucks? yukettyuk. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390/60 "2011-10-23T13:44:01Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > yukettyuk. 😃 Don’t tuck buck! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-protesting-the-warning-colibri-gave-me/600390.md?page=4)