Pitting in Obituary Threads?

[Chronos]

Speaking as the moderator in question: I also got a report for Fenris’s post in the same thread (which I believe was the first post to bring up Ellison’s misconduct). I deliberately did not moderate that post, because I think it’s legitimate to point out negatives in an RIP thread, and because Fenris made his point politely. The problem with Textual Assault’s post was not the content, but the tone.

And meanwhile, just as that thread was not the appropriate place to debate just what constitutes sexual assault, this thread certainly isn’t. If you want a debate, take it to GD.

[John_Mace]

@Northern_Piper

So when Charles Manson died, the only posts permitted in his RIP were praising him for his family values? We’re not allowed to say that “Rest in Peace, Charles” was in itself a horrible abomination? Just kitties and unicorns in MPSIMS.

Well, that thread wasn’t an RIP thread, was it?

@OP of the Charles Manson is Dead Thread

According to the BBC.

45 years too late. He was a truly evil person. He contributed absolutely nothing to society.

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...htmlstory.html

If I start at thread that says “Rot in Hell”, it’s not jerkish to come into the thread and agree with me.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@PastTense

Is there a policy against pitting in obituary threads? Should there be?

To answer the first question, I did a bit of searching, and turned up a thread where this had been extensively discussed before (rule on evil people’s deaths?). In that thread, someone linked to this comment by esrtwhile Right Hand of the Master C K Dexter Haven:

@C K Dexter Haven

While I sympathize with the notion that a memorial thread should be respectful, we’ve wrestled with this before and the consensus of opinion amongst members (and the board rules) is that people should be free to make negative comments. We’re not the family or close friends of the deceased, we’re talking about a celebrity or entertainer, and negative comments about such people are permitted… even in an obituary-type thread.

My humble-opinion answer to the second question is that, personally, I don’t mind seeing negative comments in obituary threads, but I hate seeing them hijack the thread to the point where the thread essentially turns into a Pitting of the celebrity. If that’s what you want, start a separate thread in the Pit. ETA: Or in Great Debates, if you want to debate something like whether something the person did makes them Evil or not.

[John_Mace]

@Thudlow_Boink

My humble-opinion answer to the second question is that, personally, I don’t mind seeing negative comments in obituary threads, but I hate seeing them hijack the thread to the point where the thread essentially turns into a Pitting of the celebrity. If that’s what you want, start a separate thread in the Pit. ETA: Or in Great Debates, if you want to debate something like whether something the person did makes them Evil or not.

I can agree with that. Whether you think such a post is threadshitting or not, the mods do try to keep hijacks in check.

The quote from CKDH is interesting. Maybe I’m misremembering, but I could swear I’ve seen many times when the mods have asked people not to come into an RIP Thread just to crap all over the deceased. I’d search for instances of that happening, but I don’t know how one would set up a search to find them.