# Revisiting the BBQ Pit- Boon or Bane? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 16, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413 "2021-06-16T17:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/61 "2021-06-16T21:55:37Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Others like Bricker and Scylla just left, but for the same reason. Scylla flounced over not being heaped with adulation for making up a story about being cruel to a small child. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/62 "2021-06-16T21:59:25Z")
Making threads pitting an individual poster expire seems like a good idea. Preventing newbies from seeing the pit until they have reached a higher trust level seems like a good idea. The mods could also ban linking from the pit to the rest of the board, which would be inconvenient for those posters who like to pit others, but would eliminate the ‘Oredigger77 is a troll’ type of messages in non-pit threads. But much as I hate to agree with @MrDibble, I don’t think it’ll make a whole lot of difference. Message boards are dying, and tinking with the board is just rearranging the deckchairs on the sinking ship. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/63 "2021-06-16T21:59:55Z")
Get rid of it. I decided that I simply won’t go there. If a thread of mine gets moved there, I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/64 "2021-06-16T22:04:39Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In my opinion, his later trolling was a direct result of the hostility he continually got on this board. Wait, is that supposed to be a _defence_ of him? “OK, he _was_ a troll, but it’s because he had no self control” ? I’ve been pitted several times, didn’t turn me into a misogynist troll. Is there a set threshold? How many pittings is enough to earn a Get Out Of Misogyny Free card? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/65 "2021-06-16T22:04:59Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > would eliminate the ‘Oredigger77 is a troll’ type of messages in non-pit threads Man, I should have picked a different example. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/66 "2021-06-16T22:11:51Z")
No other message boards I frequent have anything like the BBQ Pit. They likely know full well the laws and rules regarding internet/online harassment, and know that just allowing such in one forum does not cut it. I think that allowing harassment is going to get the SDMB shut down. Another board started such harassment of a member here- and the Mods shut them down- but said it was Okay in the Pit. That is most certainly not true. The laws do not allow such a exemption. Not to mention, it makes us look like a bunch of 8yo Internet bullies. I have seen newbies come in, get pitted, and leave. Yes, they were mostly sorta goofy, but it does take a while to get those boards temperature to know how to fit in. I see your point about Trolls, but I have been told my “troll-o-meter” is so bad I was asked to stop reporting trolls. I blame this upon my fantastically great genre savvy in Fantasy Roleplaying Games! 🤪 😆 🐲 Now, _if I were to have my druthers_, as my Dad used to say, I would certainly allow rants vs the world, businesses, politicians, and so forth. Some of those are great, and I wouldn’t mind participating except them someone will start calling me names over some imagined slight in another post or forum. > [@tricoteuse](#): > > It’s also good for when someone just wants to bitch, like the 8 zillion threads about COVID and the election and everything that made last year so rotten. I concur here. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > The trouble is that The BBQ Pit is not any more “outside” than any other forum. Look, I agree with **Czarcasm**! He is absolutely correct. Internet harassment of a poster. even when limited to the BBQ Pit is not in any way shape or form “outside”. > [@JohnT](#): > > Let’s not do this here any more. Let’s not transmit anger and hate. Let’s get rid of the Pit. I love the way you put that! But… Can we still hate politicians, crappy products, a bad day and nasty companies? > [@Acierocolotl](#): > > There are parts of the BBQ Pit I feel have value, such as documenting various political or social outrages. If I had wanted to go on a profanity-laced tirade against GO Media for destroying Deadspin as I knew it, it would have been a perfect place and a perfect thread. > > The parts where it’s some number of users… “engaging”… other users, perhaps not so much. It makes this place look hostile, and there’s often no art to it either. Yes, good points. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > How do other boards without a BBQ Pit equivalent handle it? _Report this post._ > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I read the SDMB for years before I ever visited the Pit, let alone took up residence there like I have since the trumpy years. > > No one has to go there if they don’t like it. Discourse will constantly remind you of it, over and over and over and over and over. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/67 "2021-06-16T22:51:52Z")
I suppose if pit threads were for just discussing disagreements you had with another member or continuing a thread-derailing argument, that would be one thing. But quite often the pit threads are just a dumping ground for vitriol about a poster, and the worse the insult the better. So rather than discussing a legitimate issue about how someone is lying or being problematic, it’s a curse filled rant about how awful the other person is. To me, all that name calling and derision towards the person seems like it’s just cyberbullying being legitimized. No matter what you think of the user, they are still a real person who is very likely to take the insults personally. One change that should probably be done is that the subject line of a pitting should just be generic and not disparaging. Lots of people see the subject line of threads even if they don’t visit the Pit, like in the Latest, New, and Suggested thread lists. A newbie coming to the board seeing a thread title like “Soandso99 is a shitstain sewer scum!” is going to have a negative view of Soandso99 even though they may have no idea who that is. So make the pit titles something neutral like “I declare a pitting of Soandso99” and keep the name calling inside the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/68 "2021-06-16T22:51:56Z")
I want to establish that there is a difference between tweaking the Pit to make it more appealing to outsiders and tweaking it because we want to improve the community for ourselves. I’m talking about the latter. - No more omnibus pittings of posters - Pit threads started about other posters eventually expire - Linking to other threads from the Pit is not allowed (especially if they concern another poster) I’d support those changes. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/69 "2021-06-16T22:55:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They likely know full well the laws and rules regarding internet/online harassment, and know that just allowing such in one forum does not cut it. I think that allowing harassment is going to get the SDMB shut down. Another board started such harassment of a member here- and the Mods shut them down- but said it was Okay in the Pit. That is most certainly not true. The laws do not allow such a exemption. While I might agree with some of the rest of your post, this is just plain silly. As far as I know, there is no law in the United States that would have thing one to say about the Pit. I’d be happy to read an authoritative link that says differently (an actual link to a law, not to some random person’s opinion). ETA: I wouldn’t mind seeing anti-poster rants directed at, say, specific bad actions; get rid of the “ **Kron** is such an asshole!”-type omnibus threads, but “ **Kron** , your ill-informed defense of _Gremlins 2_ as a worthy sequel to _Gremlins_ based SOLELY on the strength of Christopher Lee’s performance is BULLSHIT!” threads should be allowed. Keep it limited in scope to bad actions in a thread; links to OTHER threads allowed in that (Pit) thread, to show a pattern, rather than constantly dragging the same shit up in random discussions (sometimes on the flimsiest of pretexts) by linking an omnibus We-Hate-This-Guy-Don’t-We Pit thread. ETA2: Wow, I’m sure I missed five other mistakes in this that I won’t get fixed before time expires… 😊 ---
**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:** [June 16, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/70 "2021-06-16T23:08:12Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Shodan IS a good example, because he never used to be a troll. In my opinion, his later trolling was a direct result of the hostility he continually got on this board. That is not a thing that can happen. You cannot be driven to troll by how people respond to you. A poster is responsible for their own actions. Also, um, **Shodan** admitted years before he was banned that he would often post to get a rise out of people. Like, flat out. I remember, because I reported him as a troll when he said it. (I’d find it via search, but Discourse doens’t let you search by a banned user’s name.) And there’s no way you can say it was a response to us when he decided to attack someone (a veteran) for having gotten psychiatric treatment for their PTSD. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Have you been pitted? I have. And I’ll admit it’s not the greatest feeling. But I’ve yet to see anyone leave the board over being Pitted. And, the vast majority of the time, there is at least some underlying point in there. The Pit threads that turn into pile-ons mostly so because people don’t just get in, respond to the actual underlying criticism, and then get out to let people rant. In the past there were more unfair pittings, but it’s rather rare now. That said, I would love a forum where we were allowed to hash out problems without it becoming a flamefest. That’s the main flaw I see: there’s no real place to work out things amicably. Sure, in theory, you could do it in PMs. But it’s rather hard to bring up the actual offending behavior without coming off as insulting. And no real way to check and see if it’s just this one person having a pet peeve, or a bigger issue. I actually like the Pit threads where people come in, discuss the issue, but avoid going too far in ranting. Occasionally I’ve seen people actually work things out that way. It would be nice to have a place where attempting that was the norm, rather than the exception. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/71 "2021-06-16T23:10:02Z")
> **[What the Law Can (and Can't) Do About Online Harassment](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/11/what-the-law-can-and-cant-do-about-online-harassment/382638/)** > > Over a third of women report being stalked or threatened on the internet. Here's what the justice system actually says about their options. _In the world of criminal law, [federal cyber-stalking laws](http://www.haltabuse.org/resources/laws/federal.shtml), in place since 2011, include language allowing prosecutors to go after people using electronic tools to harass. These laws specifically stipulate that an “interactive computer service” cannot be used to threaten. Citron said approximately half of the states in the U.S. have also updated their laws to allow authorities to press charges against people engaging in cyber stalking and cyber harassment._ Now it is true, there are something on the order of 51 definitions of what is cyber bullying or harassment. Not to mention international laws. [https://www.verywellfamily.com/cyberbullying-laws-4588306](https://www.verywellfamily.com/cyberbullying-laws-4588306) ## A Closer Look at Cyberbullying _In simple terms, cyberbullying involves inflicting emotional pain and humiliation upon another person, or group of people, using technology. This means kids, and some adults too, may send cruel or harassing text messages, post embarrassing information or [rumors](https://www.verywellfamily.com/understanding-the-impact-of-rumors-and-gossip-460625) to social media, or make vile comments in an online forum_. Now, Ianal. And I can not point to _any one specific law_ that says the BBQ pit would qualify. But do we know all 50 states laws? All international laws? I do not think so. Why take the risk? Just so a few bullies can be happy? > [@Kron](#): > > ETA: I wouldn’t mind seeing anti-poster rants directed at, say, specific bad actions; get rid of the “ **Kron** is such an asshole!”-type omnibus threads, but “ **Kron** , your ill-informed defense of _Gremlins 2_ as a worthy sequel to _Gremlins_ based SOLELY on the strength of Christopher Lee’s performance is BULLSHIT!” threads should be allowed. Keep it limited in scope to bad actions in a thread; links to OTHER threads allowed in that (Pit) thread, to show a pattern, rather than constantly dragging the same shit up in random discussions (sometimes on the flimsiest of pretexts) by linking an omnibus We-Hate-This-Guy-Don’t-We Pit thread. This makes some sense. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/72 "2021-06-16T23:26:03Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I think the idea of a suspension board is good because it’s better than outright losing them. Right now we are having declining membership and when the admins banned someone like **Shodan** (who had been a contributor for 17 years and was banned for saying the word “harpy” - I mean, come on) - that hardly helps the board at all. > > Someone like **Shodan, HurricaneDitka, Barack Obama** or **WillFarnaby** could have stayed with us, just serving suspensions of, say, six months at a time. Banning them was too extreme, IMHO. > > Besides, a Box lets us observe the trolls in their natural habitat, like looking at them in a zoo. Fun to watch. I like this idea a lot. Banish them to the Boo Box for 6 months instead of a perpetual ban. Added bonus of getting to watch the trolls troll each other if one is so inclined. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/73 "2021-06-16T23:56:34Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Soandso99 We know who you _really_ mean. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/74 "2021-06-17T00:22:49Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > - No more omnibus pittings of posters > - Pit threads started about other posters eventually expire > - Linking to other threads from the Pit is not allowed (especially if they concern another poster) I agree with **Spice\_Weasel** that these are good suggestions. I’d also support long suspensions instead of permabans in most cases. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/75 "2021-06-17T00:25:01Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever pitted anyone, and for some perverse reason I tend to be more civil in Pit threads than elsewhere. That said, it’s a board institution that serves a purpose, and it would be a duller place if the Seething Masses had to pretend to be nice to each other all the time. There are too many posters who take things _way_ too seriously in any case. Everyone but you is a random assemblage of electrons and not really human, so why get all bent out of shape if their orbitals are non-congruent? Eliminating the Pit is not going to help the S.S. Dope stop taking on water. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/76 "2021-06-17T00:45:31Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I decided that I simply won’t go there. This is the solution. Period. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Discourse will constantly remind you of it, over and over and over and over and over. So what? Ignore bot prompts. Very easy to do. > [@DrDeth](#): > > No other message boards I frequent have anything like the BBQ Pit. Again: so what? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/77 "2021-06-17T00:53:53Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Never paid attention to him until after he was banned, but holy crap did that guy get a long leash. A long leash? There’s a poster, in this very thread, who has admitted to getting multiple, if not in fact, double digit warnings. Yet, s/he’s still here. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/78 "2021-06-17T01:16:50Z")
I don’t know who you’re talking about, but if true, that would only demonstrate that someone else is getting a long leash too. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/79 "2021-06-17T02:24:36Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Linking to other threads from the Pit is not allowed (especially if they concern another poster) I don’t see how this one could work, at least not well. If you’re pitting someone, especially due to something they posted, you have to provide context so people know what you’re talking about. Even if it’s just an overall 'I’m pitting this person for these reasons), you need to provide examples to defend your position. That will require quotes, which will generate the tags in the other threads. It’s just the way discourse is set up. Think about how often someone goes off on a rant in ATMB about a mod action and a bunch of people reply with ‘uh, link?’. I think sometimes people don’t realize that not everyone reads every thread, so something that’s a **huge deal** to one person or a group, even a large group, of posters may be something others aren’t even aware of. Perhaps the workaround would be to break those links/quotes so they don’t generate the tags in the offending threads. I’m not a twitter person. Literally the only tweets I see are those posted into other websites (and even then, only if my browser, for some unknown reason, doesn’t block them). However, I learned a while back about a subtweeting. Which is when you leave the @ symbol off a user’s name. So you can trash them to your followers without them getting notified about. What I’m suggesting is the same idea. Different reason, but same idea. On here, that might mean just cutting and pasting a post and leaving out the ID portion or linking to a thread but breaking the link. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/80 "2021-06-17T03:49:08Z")
Eh, I’ll accept a Pit if the pitting of other SDMB posters is no longer allowed, but evil politicos, corps, and other assorted newsmakers can still get dragged mercilessly. That’s an acceptable compromise. I also like the idea of a Purgatory Forum replacing permabans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413.md?page=5)