# Re: Closure of the Big T thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301 "2010-05-21T20:35:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/21 "2010-05-21T23:46:16Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I will marry the next Doper who signs up with the user name **“Jack Betty”**. Even if she isn’t as athy as me. Isn’t a “Jack” marrying a “Jack” currently against the rulrs, athiests or not? > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > **Jack Betty** , I appreciate . . . . ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/22 "2010-05-21T23:54:54Z")
Ignore my inclusion of **ACM** ’s quote. I Я slow. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/23 "2010-05-22T00:15:11Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Something new might have been added if you hadn’t closed it. I think that people, especially when there are 7 of them, should have the opportunity to rebut whether they ‘understand’ or not. As one of the 7 in question, I have no particular problem with the OP in that thread wanting to get in the last word, given the subject. The only comment I would have made to **BigT** would have been to make sure he understood that I was being light-hearted in the post he was responding to. His response seemed to indicate that he took it in the spirit it was intended, but all I would have posted had the thread not been closed was an “I hope you took it as I meant it” type of response. I’m not going to lose any sleep at not being able to do so. Especially since, on seeing him quoting my post, I realized that mine was _not_ very good, :smack:, and could have been taken wrongly. :smack::smack:. If I had gotten “warned” for my post, I would have accepted the warning as deserved, regardless of how I meant it. Still, you have a valid question about how the board is run. What _are_ the rules/guidelines on thread closure? My personal opinion is that the **mods** _should_ close threads at OP request as their default, and require better justification for closing a thread at someone besides the OP’s request. I, for one, am **happy** about our new mod overlords… and shit. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/24 "2010-05-22T00:43:47Z")
I have no ever so witty remarks to add here. I just wish to state that I agree with what is being asked here. If there ever is a place to close a thread, it isnt after one of the most sickening self-pitying glurges I have ever read. Posters can request threads be closed, but I thought the decision to close or not depended on the tone of the thread, that a poster could not avoid nasty questions just by requesting a thread be closed. That post was just begging a host of justified harsh responses, but did Twickster even read the thread, or was she just eager to bounce the closed button? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/25 "2010-05-22T00:55:07Z")
I don’t think she did read the thread. Nor do I think, judging by a woeful lack of addressing the concerns I voiced, that she even read my posts in this thread. There wasn’t even the appearance of addressing the issue I raised. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/26 "2010-05-22T01:14:17Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I have no ever so witty remarks to add here. > > I just wish to state that I agree with what is being asked here. If there ever is a place to close a thread, it isnt after one of the most sickening self-pitying glurges I have ever read. > > Posters can request threads be closed, but I thought the decision to close or not depended on the tone of the thread, that a poster could not avoid nasty questions just by requesting a thread be closed. That post was just begging a host of justified harsh responses, but did Twickster even read the thread, or was she just eager to bounce the closed button? Maybe, but it was probably better in another forum – that was probably a factor. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/27 "2010-05-22T01:25:53Z")
Yes, I read that thread. What was going on was that people were saying pretty much the same thing over and over to **BigT** , who wasn’t hearing it no matter how it was phrased. Leaving it open for people to continue saying the same thing over and over to him wasn’t going to change anything. Sorry, y’all, he asked for it to be closed and I saw – and see – no useful purpose in leaving it open. Well, other than giving **Elbows** yet another mod decision to get her knickers in a twist about, of course. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/28 "2010-05-22T02:22:35Z")
So you somehow **knew** how the seven posters he addressed, in his final post, were going to respond? You knew we were all going to continue saying the same thing over and over? And we’ll never know if it was ‘going to change anything’, because you made that determination for us. See, now I didn’t realize that was part of the mods job. Well, one useful purpose in leaving it open would be to give the posters he quoted an opportunity to respond. That’s how discussions are supposed to go, back and forth. You know what? I have been nothing but respectful and polite here, this: > [@](#): > > Well, other than giving Elbows yet another mod decision to get her knickers in a twist about, of course. Was entirely uncalled for. Care to provide a cite for the numerous times where I have got my ‘knickers in a twist’ about a mod decision? The mods have forced the posters to only question their decisions in ATMB, on the pretext that discussions need to be respectful. Apparently they aren’t bound by the same rule. I’m not so sure you did read my post in the thread you closed. > [@](#): > > How can you not understand that, from time to time, interpretation of what constitutes, ‘being a jerk’, is going to be disputed? And that when that happens the moderators get to make the call. > > Not because they have jackboots, or are trying to piss you off, but because, by joining, we’ve agreed to grant them this position. Since I was defending the modding, and since no one else had said what I did, before or after me, I fail to see how anything you’ve asserted, holds water. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/29 "2010-05-22T03:08:11Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Well, other than giving **Elbows** yet another mod decision to get her knickers in a twist about, of course. In the future, when people complain that they don’t know what “being a jerk” means in the context of the rules, I propose we link to this post. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/30 "2010-05-22T05:36:46Z")
I wish **twickster** would think about some of her decisions more carefully. The insult to **elbows** seemed to come from nowhere. And she hasn’t yet gotten the knack on post closings. I remember once that I asked that my own OP be closed and the moderator refused by saying that I would have to stick it out now that the thread had turned on me. Yeow! That was painful, but it was as it should be. I learned something from it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/31 "2010-05-22T06:12:42Z")
I doesn’t bother me that you want to respond. If the mods want to let you, that would be fine. I just was tired of people misunderstanding and repeating the same stuff over and over. I figured I’d ask for it to be closed, and let the mods decide whether that was okay. As a compromise, if you want to respond to me, I see no reason you can’t do so in this thread. Though, with my current inability to understand the unwritten rules here, I might be wrong. As for what **twicks** said: I see that sort of stuff all the time. Perhaps my sensitivity makes it jump out at me, I dunno. I’ve reported it, and the worst I’ve ever seen happen is someone getting a Mod note. All the more reason it surprised me when I got worse. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/32 "2010-05-22T10:27:56Z")
This is yet another haughty abuse of mod power with condescension to match. The attitude underlined with snotty responses in this thread is appalling. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/33 "2010-05-22T13:18:16Z")
So, let me get this straight. I politely and respectfully ask a valid question about a thread closing. The first mods to come into the thread have nothing to contribute but jokes. The mod in question comes in and, basically says, ‘the poster asked, the thread was 4 pages long, and no one had anything new to say’. When did how long the thread is, become pertinent? And when did the mods, take it upon themselves, to determine if anything of, ‘value’, was being contributed? And how is that proper criteria for closing a thread unless you’re psychic? Then a gratuitous insult was included, characterizing me as, ‘getting my panties in a twist’, ‘yet again’, over a mod decision. This is a horribly unfair characterization as I very rarely, in 10 years as a poster, have taken exception to the modding on the board. I feel that **Twickster** should be required to provide cites for such an accusation, though I doubt that will happen. I thought insults were not permitted in ATMB and that discussions of moddings were only permitted in this forum so they would remain respectful. How is it okay for the mods to not have to do the same? Pretty clearly **Twickster** is content to be insulting and dismissive of, what I feel is a valid question. So I’ll ask the other mods, is it just me, or is this a break from protocol wherein other posters are first given a chance to respond before a thread is closed, even when requested by the OP? Do you think it’s okay to close a thread because it’s 4 pages long? Or because you don’t feel anything new is being added? Shouldn’t the OP have been told that yes, the thread would be closed, but not until the (7) posters addressed in his final post were given an opportunity to respond? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/34 "2010-05-22T14:32:48Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I wish **twickster** would think about some of her decisions more carefully. The insult to **elbows** seemed to come from nowhere. And she hasn’t yet gotten the knack on post closings. > > I remember once that I asked that my own OP be closed and the moderator refused by saying that I would have to stick it out now that the thread had turned on me. Yeow! That was painful, but it was as it should be. I learned something from it. My response to that would have been to ignore the thread after that point. Then again, I tried ignoring the now-closed thread, and couldn’t, which was part of my reason to ask for it to be closed. My proposal is to do what Ed did that one time. Say something like “The OP has asked for the thread to be closed. If you have anything else to respond, you have until time X, when I will close it.” BTW, my name is one word, BigT. Not that I care, but I just noticed the title. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/35 "2010-05-22T15:19:56Z")
> [@](#): > > My response to that would have been to ignore the thread after that point. With all due respect, this isn’t about what your response would have been. It’s about the protocol of closing a thread before the other participants had an opportunity to respond to your final post. I’ve not seen that done before. In the past, threads were not closed **only** because the OP requested it, other posters were given the opportunity to respond before closing. Because it’s not really fair to let the OP post the final word, quoting 7 previous posts, and not give those cited the chance to respond. Again, just to be clear, it’s not about whether you’d have cared/read/responded. Nor is it about the length of the thread, or whether people were reiterating something previously covered. Nor should it be about any other complaint about modding that I, or anyone else, has had over other issues. (In this case, completely unfounded as I have very rarely ever taken issue with the modding, in ten years as a poster. It was a straight up, gratuitous, unfounded insult, by a mod, in a forum where posters are forbidden from doing same.) Oh, and sorry about the misspelling of your name, BigT. Not that you care, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/36 "2010-05-22T15:35:28Z")
My understanding was that unless it’s in the pit, an OP can request their thread closed. Of course that was back in the good old days when men were men, and women were women and we were allowed to call each other cunts and fartlickers in the pit. Nowadays I just don’t know what the rules are other than apparently twickster gets to insult anybody everywhere. Can we get a sticky on that, please? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/37 "2010-05-22T16:08:53Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > get her knickers in a twist. So. . .am I the only one who finds this. . .um, mildly. .never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/38 "2010-05-22T16:12:51Z")
How about a sticky that says that if an OP doesn’t bother to give a link to the thread being complained about, we’re free to mock or ignore everything the OP says? I bet that would be one rule that is scrupulously adhered to by everyone! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/39 "2010-05-22T16:55:59Z")
It’s already been linked to, (thanks TBG!). I omitted it only because it was directly below this thread when I opened it, and it seemed unnecessary. However, your point is well taken and I apologize for the inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301/40 "2010-05-22T16:58:18Z")
> [@](#): > > My understanding was that unless it’s in the pit, an OP can request their thread closed. > [@](#): > > I totally get that OP’s can request that their thread be closed, and am not in disagreement with that. First line of my OP, seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-closure-of-the-big-t-thread/540301.md?page=3)