# Really, Twickster? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 14, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183 "2013-08-14T02:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/41 "2013-08-14T13:06:07Z")
I hope this ends in another one of Oak’s patented flounces. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/42 "2013-08-14T14:20:58Z")
I disagree. There are two key differences between the two posts. Firstly, there is a hostile tone in **Oakminster** ’s post, that is absent in **DMark** ’s. The second difference is that \*\*DMark \*\*gave both his opinion and some factual information that addresses the OP’s question. By contrast, **Oakminster** only gave his opinion. Merely expressing an opinion ought not to be against the rules. There’s been many thousands of posts where Dopers have expressed their own opinion, and didn’t get a mod note for it. Case in point, post #36 in this thread. Baker expresses an opinion about Jane Fonda. Should he be dinjged? I think not. It isn’t Oak’s opinion that’s wrong, it’s the way he expressed it. Basically it amounts to threadshitting. I say a mode note was appropriate for that, but not for **DMark** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/43 "2013-08-14T18:31:57Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I disagree. There are two key differences between the two posts. > > Firstly, there is a hostile tone in **Oakminster** ’s post, that is absent in **DMark** ’s. I’m curious about how one might rewrite **DMark** ’s post in a way that would give it a hostile tone. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/44 "2013-08-14T18:33:58Z")
I’m not sure why either post drew a remark. It appears to be avoiding a hijack, i.e. turning the conversation into a discussion over the merits of Jane’s actions rather than Henry’s opinion about Jane’s actions. If so, I guess I can see that point. Thanks **twickster** for returning to the thread. Your follow-on responses in the thread have been consistent. **Oakminster** , while I don’t dispute your right to question the moderator action, and you did have a valid point about the unevenness of the moderation, I think your attitude was a little too worked up. You were too busy looking for examples of your supposed bias against conservatives to give alternative explanations even a consideration. And I’m going to leap ahead and say that even if this was a case where their was bias and **twickster** came back to “cover” for herself (which I do not think is the case), I don’t think there’s any value in coming back to make that claim (which I do not claim you will, I am merely considering what possible responses might be). All that would do is paint you as being more unreasonable. If I could make a suggestion, I would suggest that you consider your attitude and your approach to the moderation and the moderators. Your hostile tone and default assumptions of malfeasance do not inspire the majority of posters to consider your complaints as valid, rather, they just serve to paint you as a complainer and a whiner. Consider the difference in tone of starting this thread with following: > [@](#): > > Twickster, I do not understand your moderation in this thread. It’s a thread about Hanoi Jane Fonda. Prior board precedent allows negative comments about non-posters. Cite to any rules violated, please. Just changing that one sentence shifts the tone from an accusation to a question of intent. I feel that if you consistently followed that approach to your concerns on the board, that poster attitudes on this board would reflect better on you. You probably wouldn’t be seeing so many posts like 34 and 35. People would be less inclined to think “not another complaint from Oakminster” and more inclined to give your concerns a fair hearing. That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/45 "2013-08-14T18:42:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Poster 1: “Here’s my personal opinion on the topic: I hate it.” > > Poster 2: “Here’s my personal opinion on the topic: I love it.” > > Moderator: “Poster 1, you shouldn’t be posting your personal opinions in this thread.” If \*\*Oakminster \*\*had even posted - “Here’s my personal opinion: I hate it. But I don’t know if Henry’s opinion matched mine,” it would have come across much differently. Of course, he would have still been moderated, not because he’s conservative, but because there’s a secret conspiracy against **Oakminster**. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/46 "2013-08-14T18:44:46Z")
It’s not a secret. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/47 "2013-08-14T18:45:54Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Of course, he would have still been moderated, not because he’s conservative, but because there’s a secret conspiracy against **Oakminster**. Not if you blab about it to everyone. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/48 "2013-08-14T18:47:31Z")
We are not allowed to give opinions in Cafe Society now? I’ve been mostly away for a few weeks but I was unaware of the rule change. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/49 "2013-08-14T19:11:07Z")
Depends what it’s an opinion about. If it’s the arts – books, movies, music, etc., – sure, that’s what the forum is there for. Your political opinion in a thread where someone had asked a factual question about how someone reacted to something? Off-topic, and worthy of a mod note to prevent a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/50 "2013-08-14T19:16:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Depends what it’s an opinion about. If it’s the arts – books, movies, music, etc., – sure, that’s what the forum is there for. > > Your political opinion in a thread where someone had asked a factual question about how someone reacted to something? Off-topic, and worthy of a mod note to prevent a hijack. Is it really a factual question though? Trying to guess how somebody else feels about something is a textbook example of a non-factual answer. Even if you can dig up public statements, that doesn’t really prove anything about how that person really truly feels about the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/51 "2013-08-14T19:57:53Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I disagree. There are two key differences between the two posts. > > Firstly, there is a hostile tone in **Oakminster** ’s post, that is absent in **DMark** ’s. > > The second difference is that \*\*DMark \*\*gave both his opinion and some factual information that addresses the OP’s question. By contrast, **Oakminster** only gave his opinion. Oakminster’s post was hostile because his opinion is hostile. DMark has a positive opinion so his post wasn’t. If you ask people for their opinions, you have to accept the negative ones with the positives. And Oakminster’s hostility was strictly directed against Fonda - he expressed no negative opinion about the thread or any other poster. So it wasn’t threadshitting. As for splitting DMark’s post, I feel that is something mods have to do. A person can make several different points in a post and only one of them may be a problem. So a mod needs to be able to pick out that problem and address it. The alternative would be you could get away with anything just be burying inappropriate remarks in a valid post. I could have said something like, _“Henry and Jane often argued about her political views and it took them years to reconcile after the war ended. A war which George Bush used his father’s influence to stay out of.”_ Or I could just use “Obama delenda est” as my signature line on all my posts. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/52 "2013-08-14T20:07:38Z")
**DMark** added some value on-topic to the post. **Oak** added nothing at all on topic to the post. I actually don’t think DM should have been modded, given that he did address the OP (as well as \*adding \*some personal opinion). Is it an agreed-upon rule that no similar personal opinions can be added to on-point responses? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/53 "2013-08-14T20:22:26Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Depends what it’s an opinion about. If it’s the arts – books, movies, music, etc., – sure, that’s what the forum is there for. > > Your political opinion in a thread where someone had asked a factual question about how someone reacted to something? Off-topic, and worthy of a mod note to prevent a hijack. Would **Oakminsters’** or **DMarks’** posts been ok if the thread had been started in IMHO since they were their opinions? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/54 "2013-08-14T20:33:20Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Would **Oakminsters’** or **DMarks’** posts been ok if the thread had been started in IMHO since they were their opinions? Of course not. But that wasn’t where this thread was, and it wasn’t asking for opinions. It would also have been okay in the Pit, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/55 "2013-08-14T20:36:28Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Of course not. But that wasn’t where this thread was, and it wasn’t asking for opinions. > > It would also have been okay in the Pit, too. 🙂 Did you mean “of course not”? Or, of course they would’ve been ok? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/56 "2013-08-14T20:42:00Z")
Ah, I see Oak’s monthly piss in ATMB is right on time. Seriously dude, the vast majority of posters never start a thread in complaint about the mods. You do it with a regularity that my bowels are truly in envious awe of. The problem is that your consistently wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/57 "2013-08-14T20:44:42Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > You’re right, **Oakie, DMark** deserved a mod note for the first paragraph of his response, though the second paragraph was on topic. > > If I had noticed his post last night, I would have written the note then, but he posted while I was composing my note to you. I then logged off for the night without reviewing the thread in its entirety, so I didn’t see his post at the time. > > I have written him a mod note this morning. Thank you. I still disagree with a note being issued at all, but as long as it’s a level playing field, I’m satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/58 "2013-08-14T21:08:51Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Of course not. But that wasn’t where this thread was, and it wasn’t asking for opinions. > > It would also have been okay in the Pit, too. 🙂 Yeah, I’m confused by this but thanks for answering. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/59 "2013-08-14T21:11:52Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Did you mean “of course not”? Or, of course they would’ve been ok? Sorry. IMHO IS all about opinions. Of course it would be all right, that’s what In My Humble Opinion is for. BUT … that’s not where the thread was. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-twickster/666183/60 "2013-08-14T21:13:46Z")
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