# Piling On **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572 "2007-01-11T17:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572/61 "2007-01-18T08:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Fuck the rationalizations, I post in ways that amuse me and I hope the other posters strive to do the same (without being childish about it) because funny is better than polite. [/QUOTE] Right, and if poking someone in the eye with a stick amuses you, it’s OK because the only consideration is whether you are personally amused. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572/62 "2007-01-18T09:53:32Z")
I already stated that I won’t do any links. If I did, what would happen is that an argument over whether that was indeed a type 2 pile-on would ensue, thus moving further away from the larger question that I wished to deal with, with respect to board policy. And again, I don’t expect the policy to change, at least right away. Even the administration has itself been the target of these pile-ons. My hope is that, over time, people who value this board for its high intellectual standards will recognize how parochial that sort of bullying really is. It’s just a few knuckleheads having fun at someone else’s expense, and dragging the whole board down a few notches in the process. It should become clear, in time, that these are nothing but trolls. Thanks for the well wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572/63 "2007-01-18T10:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Right, and if poking someone in the eye with a stick amuses you, it’s OK because the only consideration is whether you are personally amused. [/QUOTE] Essentially… yes, though I do my best to adhere to the standards of this board and invite anyone who feels I’ve crossed a line to use to report button. We are being metaphorical re the stick and eye, I assume. [sup]—\>[/sup] 😉 ---
**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:** [January 18, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572/64 "2007-01-18T15:46:29Z")
Pile-on posts as lawnchair posts - I don’t think they are quite the same. In a lawnchair post, you’re posting that you think a thread is going to go badly, and you are going to enjoy watching the trainwreck, and in doing so, you create somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. A pile-on post is basically a “me too” post - you’re not contributing greatly to the boards, but you are posting your opinion, which I would hate to discourage, even if it is an opinion that’s basically not worth posting. I wouldn’t want to be the person to try to decide which opinions are worth posting and which ones aren’t. Pile-on posts as trolling - again, posting “me too” pile-on posts are posting your own opinion, not just being argumentative to try to incite a reaction in other posters, so I don’t think I would call them trolling. It sounds like you’re ascribing motives to “me too” pile-on posts that I don’t think you can, **Lib**. You don’t know what anybody’s motives are in pile-on posting - it might seem obvious to you, but you never can **know** with certainty. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572/65 "2007-01-18T16:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Pile-on posts as lawnchair posts - I don’t think they are quite the same. In a lawnchair post, you’re posting that you think a thread is going to go badly, and you are going to enjoy watching the trainwreck, and in doing so, you create somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. A pile-on post is basically a “me too” post - you’re not contributing greatly to the boards, but you are posting your opinion, which I would hate to discourage, even if it is an opinion that’s basically not worth posting. I wouldn’t want to be the person to try to decide which opinions are worth posting and which ones aren’t. [/quote] Understandable, and neither do I, which is why I’ve never applied to be a mod. But as I said before, it isn’t the expression of the opinions that bothers me; it is the interpretation of the opinions as statistically significant weight toward a conclusion that something is wrong with the person on the bottom of the pile — a sort of mindset that says, “Well, if all these people are complaining, then it must be true.” The problem, aside from being an outright logical fallacy, is that many pile-ons are nothing more than three or four people posting repeatedly and loudly in tandem, giving the appearance of some grand consensus where none exists. > [@](#): > > Pile-on posts as trolling - again, posting “me too” pile-on posts are posting your own opinion, not just being argumentative to try to incite a reaction in other posters, so I don’t think I would call them trolling. It sounds like you’re ascribing motives to “me too” pile-on posts that I don’t think you can, **Lib**. You don’t know what anybody’s motives are in pile-on posting - it might seem obvious to you, but you never can **know** with certainty. But as Giraffe (I believe it was… maybe it was Dex) said elsewhere, just because a post pushes your buttons doesn’t mean the poster is a troll. The mods have to make subjective decisions all the time about whether buttons are being pushed. And I think it’s fair to say that sometimes, even if not all the time, the fourth person to join a member-kicking contest does so just because it is an opportunity to rile the other person up, hoping that she will “break”. If that isn’t pushing buttons, then what is? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piling-on/387572.md?page=3)