# Regarding SDMB Administration: A Plea For Restraint **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 13, 2005, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858 "2005-02-13T09:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/81 "2005-02-14T21:21:41Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I wonder how many of those criticizing the Mods have had the experience of dealing with a personnel issue, spending hours in meetings about it, writing up pages and pages of documentation, spending sleepless nights worrying about it, then having someone say loudly “why doesn’t the management do something about X?” Since when do meetings = doing something? ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/82 "2005-02-14T22:44:33Z")
> [@](#): > > **Voyager** said: > I’ve been posting on message boards for over 30 years, Just out of curiosity, what message boards were around prior to 1975? Or are you talking strictly BBS, as in the Christiansen systems that went online in 1979? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/83 "2005-02-14T23:06:01Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#): > > Since when do meetings = doing something? When they allow the exchange of information between legal and HR people and managers, so that when something is done it won’t be regretted. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/84 "2005-02-14T23:14:31Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Just out of curiosity, what message boards were around prior to 1975? > > Or are you talking strictly BBS, as in the Christiansen systems that went online in 1979? The [PLATO](http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~chip/projects/timeline/1960won.html) system, based at the University of Illinois but used by people around the country, had notesfiles( much like boards), instant messaging, interactive multi-player games, MUDs, and an on-line newspaper. Just about everything the web has today except spam. Even very mild slightly dirty stuff. It was purely non-commercial, though. I took the PLATO authoring class in 1974, and stayed on until I left Illinois because the prof who controlled access to authoring logins for the computer science department liked the Star Trek column I wrote for Red Sweater News. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/85 "2005-02-14T23:16:19Z")
Monty Python aside, the fact that a Moderator should edit somebody else’s post and call him a douchebag while doing so is out of line - unless, of course, it’s some private joke between the two of them. If it isn’t a joke, then it’s akin to entering somebody’s residence, re-arranging their furniture and shitting on the carpet before leaving. The poster who asked for an explanation was quite justified. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/86 "2005-02-14T23:21:56Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > If it isn’t a joke, then it’s akin to entering somebody’s residence, re-arranging their furniture and shitting on the carpet before leaving. I just have to say this is the most hilarious analogy i’ve ever read. Thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/87 "2005-02-14T23:23:13Z")
> [@](#): > > **Voyager** said: > Even very mild slightly dirty stuff. It was purely non-commercial, though. So the ‘message board’ nomenclature is a bit misleading then. Not that you weren’t using PLATO, but you’re talking about the time period of the development of ARPANET when there were maybe 20 computers country-wide that were networked. It didn’t even hit the hundreds until the mid to late 70s, and even then the only way to do it was to dial a local BBS or have access to a machine at a university that was connected. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/88 "2005-02-15T04:09:37Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I am grateful to the Administrators and Mods for leaving this thread up for a while. I think these threads should be kept up, not ‘disappeared’ or ‘sanitised’, as a reminder to other mods and admins about what can happen when they break the rules. > [@](#): > > \*If anything, I think that I will probably trust Administrators and Moderators more now than I have since a time before **Aldebaran’s** personal information was revealed. At least now there is an acknowledgement of a problem and it is being addressed _as a serious issue._ It should have been dealt with as a serious issue back then, when it happened with Aldebaran, and then the current problem would have been much less likely. Is he, or SM for that matter, likely to be invited back, [presuming that they’d want to come] in compensation for the misuse of their personal information. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/89 "2005-02-15T04:11:10Z")
> [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](#): > > Is he, or SM for that matter, likely to be invited back, [presuming that they’d want to come] in compensation for the misuse of their personal information. _dies laughing_ You crazy optimist, you! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/90 "2005-02-15T04:22:43Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Monty Python aside, the fact that a Moderator should edit somebody else’s post and call him a douchebag while doing so is out of line - unless, of course, it’s some private joke between the two of them. I feel the same way. It’s probably some kind of inside joke, but even so it’s ill-timed and in poor taste, considering the serious matter at hand. However, I’m willing to give **Uncle Beer** a pass…we’ve got other people to dogpile on. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/91 "2005-02-15T04:25:04Z")
Of course, by UB, I meant **Ukelele Ike**. Damn short-term memory loss! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/92 "2005-02-15T04:33:43Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > _dies laughing_ > > You crazy optimist, you! Well, it only seems fair. One of the major factors leading to Aldebaran being banned was certain members’ continual misuse of the erroneous information that a mod. posted about him. Some action should have been taken at the time. TubaDiva’s 30 day suspension doesn’t seem, in any way, to be appropriate action for what she did, and, doubtless, when she returns, these threads will all be sanitised, and it’ll all be like it never happened, huh, with warnings flying at anyone who dares mention the topic again? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/93 "2005-02-15T15:36:09Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Monty Python aside, the fact that a Moderator should edit somebody else’s post and call him a douchebag while doing so is out of line - unless, of course, it’s some private joke between the two of them. If it isn’t a joke, then it’s akin to entering somebody’s residence, re-arranging their furniture and shitting on the carpet before leaving. > > The poster who asked for an explanation was quite justified. _Explanation:_ **Zombies** messed up the coding a post about how mods needed to have strict reins placed on their behavior so that they wouldn’t spill the beans concerning members’ personal lives. I fixed the coding because that’s one of the things I do here. I posted my reason for said editing to avoid the foment of conspiracy theory (“A mod edited his post! They must be trying to _stifle the truth!_”) I called him a douchebag because of a mild resentment at the implication that I was a power-hungry fascist who was simply dying to reveal people’s deepest secrets to the howling lynch mob. I’m more of a janitor, really. If he’d like to call me a name back, he’s perfectly within his rights to do so. But I probably won’t fix any coding mistakes in the post. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/94 "2005-02-15T15:57:56Z")
The Lord and Lady Douchebag “Say, what’s this new invention you’ve been sitting on Douchebag?” “Oh, just a little something I’ve had hanging around for awhile.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/95 "2005-02-15T16:12:00Z")
Part of me thinks you should’ve left the coding and posted your opinion in a separate post, especially since you never fix MY coding. The other part of me thinks what you did was funny. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/96 "2005-02-15T16:17:01Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > _Explanation:_ **Zombies** messed up the coding a post about how mods needed to have strict reins placed on their behavior so that they wouldn’t spill the beans concerning members’ personal lives. > > I fixed the coding because that’s one of the things I do here. I posted my reason for said editing to avoid the foment of conspiracy theory (“A mod edited his post! They must be trying to _stifle the truth!_”) I called him a douchebag because of a mild resentment at the implication that I was a power-hungry fascist who was simply dying to reveal people’s deepest secrets to the howling lynch mob. I’m more of a janitor, really. > > If he’d like to call me a name back, he’s perfectly within his rights to do so. But I probably won’t fix any coding mistakes in the post. Point number 1 - I am a woman, so you need to edit your own post for gender. Point number 2 - I only just realised that your ‘douchebag’ comment referred to me, as I hadn’t re-read the posts on the first page. So your whole 'conspiracy theory idea is all in your own mind. You could have left the mistake as it was - I certainly didn’t ask you to fix it. I think have said on other threads that I an severely disabled and I find it hard to use a computer, but OK, if you prefer to think of me as a douchebag because I made a mistake, that’s your problem, dear. Have you considered Anger Management classes? Point number 3 - I have never mentioned you by name in a post, much less called you a ‘power hungry fascist’, and I’m not a member of a ‘lynch mob’, but if this is how moderators treat members who make a coding mistake, maybe SDMB has bigger problems than I thought. Point number 4 - Please don’t put yourself out fixing any coding mistakes in my future posts. You probably have better things to do, and I would prefer that you didn’t seize the opportunity to call me names in the future. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/97 "2005-02-15T16:23:30Z")
> [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](#): > > TubaDiva’s 30 day suspension doesn’t seem, in any way, to be appropriate action for what she did, and, doubtless, when she returns, these threads will all be sanitised, and it’ll all be like it never happened, huh, with warnings flying at anyone who dares mention the topic again? Naah…it would be easier to shut down the boards entirely, than pick out & remove all the references in all these threads that are multiplying like head lice. And how on earth are you going to prevent anyone from mentioning TubaDiva again? People _still_ bring up the **Melin** situation, and that happened way back in the dark ages. > [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > [I called him a douchebag because of a mild resentment at the implication that I was a power-hungry fascist who was simply dying to reveal people’s deepest secrets to the howling lynch mob. And here I was thinking that moderators were supposed to remain impartial while performing their duties, especially with something so innocuous as fixing bad coding. Learn something new every day, I guess. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/98 "2005-02-15T17:02:58Z")
> [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](#): > > Well, it only seems fair. One of the major factors leading to Aldebaran being banned was certain members’ continual misuse of the erroneous information that a mod. posted about him. Some action should have been taken at the time. I don’t see how bringing him back will suddenly make him comply with the rules. > [@](#): > > TubaDiva’s 30 day suspension doesn’t seem, in any way, to be appropriate action for what she did, and, doubtless, when she returns, these threads will all be sanitised, and it’ll all be like it never happened, huh, with warnings flying at anyone who dares mention the topic again? What do you think it warrents? A one year suspension? A lifetime ban for making an error? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/99 "2005-02-15T17:07:42Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > And here I was thinking that moderators were supposed to remain impartial while performing their duties, especially with something so innocuous as fixing bad coding. Learn something new every day, I guess. :rolleyes: Yeah, they’re supposed to check their personalities at the door. :rolleyes: I was a damned good soccer referee back in the day and I could take abuse most of the time like water off a duck’s back. But not every time. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858/100 "2005-02-15T17:18:53Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > I don’t see how bringing him back will suddenly make him comply with the rules. > > What do you think it warrents? A one year suspension? A lifetime ban for making an error? False Dilemma logical fallacy. I’m not the poster you quoted, but from what I’ve seen, most would be content with TD being striped of her admin responsibilities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-sdmb-administration-a-plea-for-restraint/289858.md?page=6)