# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/141 "2021-06-17T19:51:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And of course in the Pit, you can simply lie about a posters viewpoints. This could be modded in GD. It’s pretty rare for a mod to make any note about a poster’s lies. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Exactly, and that is their plan. So, are you claiming that you know what other’s viewpoints are here? That they “have a plan”? Should that statement be modded if you are not able to back it up with fact, rather than just your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/142 "2021-06-17T19:51:41Z")
It is interesting where we have one thread wondering why we can’t get new or younger members to the board while having a different thread where people are arguing that we should keep an admittedly unique feature where people can get the shit flamed out of them for personal opinions in the most juvenile fashion. I mean, we banned the misogyny threads because some women may be offended by something that affects them in a general way but keep a whole forum which is there for the sole purpose of offending everyone. Yes, the Pit should go. It’s always been ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/143 "2021-06-17T19:52:19Z")
I agree that the emotional abuse and scathing insults are far from necessary. I’ve never started a Pit thread but, if I ever do so, I’d like to think that it will contain stern and pointed criticism sans the abuse. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/144 "2021-06-17T20:01:47Z")
Show of hands, of those that want the Pit gone who isn’t currently being Pitted? ---
**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 17, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/145 "2021-06-17T20:08:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, if I read you right, No, you do not. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Not to mention you seem to magically know everyones ethnicity. No, people generally tell me. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/146 "2021-06-17T20:17:06Z")
We absolutely should get rid of the Pit, or change it to a place for ranting and complaining about other things, not posters. Honestly, it’s the worst idea. There is simply no logic to saying that the rules are that you can’t be a jerk and insult people, and then say you can be a jerk and insult people. It’s preposterous. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Show of hands, of those that want the Pit gone who isn’t currently being Pitted? Me. I have never thought it was a good idea. The lack of civility on the Boards is breathtakingly bad. It’s never been as good as I’d have liked but it’s getting distinctly worse. The arguments for the Pit, as near as I can tell, basically break down into three general positions: **1. We’re always had it and it’s popular.** “It’s always been that way” is not a real argument. **2. “It’s popular.”** The popularity of the Pit is not necessarily a good thing if it discourages people from participating in the Boards as a whole. We can still keep a no-insulting-other-posters Pit for fun stuff. If the SDMB was doing well in membership we wouldn’t be having these conversations, anyway, and the hostility is one of the reasons it’s not doing well. **3. People need a place to vent.** Oh, please, what total nonsense. We’re supposed to be adults. Adults are not forced to engage in reprehensible behaviour. In real life, do you have no choice but to scream at people and abuse them so that you can be a decent human the rest of the time? Such behaviour is intolerable and no decent human would accept it for a second. I wouldn’t let a child do that. That isn’t how human beings work; you do not have some sort of minimum quota of disgusting insults that you are forced to throw at other human beings. If something here makes you mad, don’t engage with that poster. Ignore them. Go for a walk. Do the things mentally stable adults do. I do not believe, not for one second, that allowing insults and attacks in the Pit makes the other forums more civil. Not for a moment. In fact, _I strongly believe the nastiness and hostility bred there spills over into the other forums_ and my cite is the enormous amount of meanness. We have on the Boards a great many posters whose posting behaviour is suggestive of a belief that they have a right to be legitimately cruel to others, with no regards whatsoever for their feelings or dignity, and who think it’s just fine and dandy to go berzerk in the Pit AND press right up against the allowable boundaries, stepping right on the line, in other forums, and figure that as long as they’re not getting warned or banned it’s totally fine to act like the worst sort of bully to living, breathing people in a way that they’d never, ever do in real life. It’s truly appalling and the Pit makes it worse, all over the board. By the way, I’ve pitted another poster or two, awhile ago. I feel genuinely terrible for having done so. ---
**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, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/147 "2021-06-17T20:39:43Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Show of hands, of those that want the Pit gone who isn’t currently being Pitted? I don’t want the Pit gone but I support common sense modifications. IIRC I’ve been pitted exactly once, in 2008, because someone thought I was trolling. And it sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/148 "2021-06-17T20:46:44Z")
I’d historically say it should stay, but I think at this point it could go and we’d be better off. I think a lot of the lowest quality posters basically still exist on the board because the Pit gives them a place where they can act up and not get in trouble. If that were taken away from them, I suspect due to lack of control, many would be bounced out of the forum entirely, to its improvement. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/149 "2021-06-17T20:52:22Z")
As long as it becomes okay to accuse other posters of lying or of being trolls outside the pit, then some of your points are valid. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/150 "2021-06-17T20:54:01Z")
I see no reason to allow that. If someone lies, that can be countered with cites. Say “that’s not true; here are the facts.” If they’re a troll, report them and the mods will deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/151 "2021-06-17T20:56:48Z")
Yeah, like that works. I can spend an hour putting together cites to prove a lie that takes seconds to spew, and in the meantime, they’ve spewed a dozen more. They will ignore the cites and just continue to lie. And mods have always been slow to call out trolls, usually allowing them to derail not just threads but entire forums. the standard for actually being sanctioned for being a troll will always be much higher than that of being obvious to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/152 "2021-06-17T21:00:44Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’d historically say it should stay, but I think at this point it could go and we’d be better off. I think a lot of the lowest quality posters basically still exist on the board because the Pit gives them a place where they can act up and not get in trouble. If that were taken away from them, I suspect due to lack of control, many would be bounced out of the forum entirely, to its improvement. Remind us again what you think about the posters here? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/153 "2021-06-17T21:01:04Z")
Doesn’t seem appropriate for this forum or the discussion we are having, so I will opt against that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/154 "2021-06-17T21:01:30Z")
**Modhat** : Reminder, we’re in the ATMB forum. Lets not do this. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/155 "2021-06-17T21:03:32Z")
“… the lowest quality posters basically still exist on the board because the Pit gives them a place where they can act up and not get in trouble. …” isn’t also “doing this”? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/156 "2021-06-17T21:06:35Z")
Well **ATMB** is a place for questioning Mods, so I’ll explain. 1. your post was a specific swipe likely to start an argument with a specific poster. 2. I didn’t see the other post, but even if I had, it isn’t aimed at anyone specific. It is fairly generic. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/157 "2021-06-17T21:09:28Z")
As a poster, I think the pit should stay and should pretty much stay as is. I think **Miller** does a great job running it. As a mod, I’m happy it exists to direct posters to take their squabbles there. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/158 "2021-06-17T21:14:07Z")
For the record, I am reading this thread. I’m trying to listen more than argue, so I don’t plan to post a ton, but you all aren’t being ignored. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/159 "2021-06-17T21:31:41Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > **3. People need a place to vent.** Yes, as long as it against public persons, companies, politicians, the weather, etc. > [@RickJay](#): > > I do not believe, not for one second, that allowing insults and attacks in the Pit makes the other forums more civil. Not for a moment. In fact, _I strongly believe the nastiness and hostility bred there spills over into the other forums_ and my cite is the enormous amount of meanness. Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413/160 "2021-06-17T21:33:08Z")
And so, you go into the Pit and call them a liar and a troll. Exactly how does that stop or even impede them from lying or trolling? It just feeds them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revisiting-the-bbq-pit-boon-or-bane/944413.md?page=9)