So, cochrane started a thread in the Pit about the recent 9 year old kid that killed a gun range instructor with a full auto uzi.
Someone else comes along and points out that there is already another thread started in MPSIMS about the same topic. cochrane responds:
Is it not okay to call out “dumbfuckery” of society or people in general (not other posters) in MPSIMS?
I realize that Pit threads are about rants about particular topics or more specifically about other posters, but is there a specific board rule against using profane language towards people in general in other forums besides the Pit?
While a MPSIMS thread on this topic might begin OK, it will devolve into the two sides of the gun control debate calling each other names. Better to just begin in the pit, I think.
No, there isn’t. Whether a thread is suitable for the Pit doesn’t depend on whether or not it contains profanity. In this case, the OP wanted to allow for others taking it in a contentious direction and so put it in the Pit.
I think it’s the overall tone of a thread that determines where it goes rather than the use of specific words. An angry rant might be inappropriate for MPSIMS even if it doesn’t contain any profanity. Some profanity is allowed in forums besides the Pit as long as it’s not over the top.
Yes, that was my intent in starting the thread in the Pit. I wanted people to be able to express extreme views and be able to get called out on them without violating the rules of other forums and not get mod-noted or warned for calling people out on their opinions. In the Pit you’re allowed to call people idiots or stupid or trolls, where in other forums you’re not. Those kinds of threads usually end up getting moved to the Pit, so I thought I’d start it off there and remove the need to move it from IMHO or MPSIMS or wherever.
Well, the reality is that you can call NON-POSTERS idiots or stupid or trolls in any forum, but you can’t insult POSTERS outside the Pit forum.
Generally speaking, rants about non-posters (e.g., the fuck-brained morons who gave a child an Uzi) are acceptable anywhere. The dividing line is not the extent of profanity, but whether the rant is directed a SDMB posters or at others.
We’ve never wanted to censor language, but we do want to keep an excess of profanity away from thread titles in other forums. Partly because some folks read the SDMB at work, and it would be awkward if a manager walked by and say a screen full of fuck, shit, etc.
Well, yes, we’re basically on the same page. I made the thread in the Pit because I figured these threads usually get derailed by posters calling one another stupid or a troll, either forgetting which forum they’re in, or just wanting to be insulting, consequences be damned.
