# Sending a thread to the PIT to punish a poster **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602 "2020-07-17T18:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/1 "2020-07-17T18:27:39Z")
> [@Renaming something if the minority doesn't mind but the majority does](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renaming-something-if-the-minority-doesnt-mind-but-the-majority-does/915317/76): > > First of all, usage changes over time. In case you’re not familiar with the concept of time, here’s a [link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time). For example, it used to be fine to call black people “colored”, as in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but if you called a black kid a “colored boy”, people would look at you askance. Do you think the Washington Coloreds would work? Second, how people in the in-group refer to themselves doesn’t necessarily change whether or not it’s a slur when used by ot… **Renaming something if the minority doesn’t mind but the majority does** was started by Velocity. Puddlegum does get more than a bit obtuse, sure, but then :" [Jonathan\_Chance] _Congratulations, puddleglum. You were so obtuse I thought this would do better in the Pit._ _Enjoy."_ Sends the whole thread into the PIT to punish Puddlegum. This is a blatant abuse of Moderator powers. Velocity didnt start this out as a Pit thread, nor is it Pit Material. If indeed Puddleglum was that obtuse, then the right thing to do would be to start a pit thread on the subject, not send Velocities interesting thread off into “you racist piece of shit.” land Hell, Warn Puddleglum if you think he crossed a line. Cut the thread off, sure. But no one likes the idea of sending other peoples thread off into the PIT- except the few than now get to call names. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/2 "2020-07-17T18:34:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But no one likes the idea of sending other peoples thread off into the PIT- except the few than now get to call name I don’t care if a thread is moved to the pit. Even if I started it somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/3 "2020-07-17T18:36:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is a blatant abuse of Moderator powers Roflmao ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/4 "2020-07-17T18:38:17Z")
Was it your thread? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/5 "2020-07-17T18:40:41Z")
Was it _your_ thread? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/6 "2020-07-17T18:41:21Z")
No, but you said “no one likes the idea of sending others peoples thread to the pit…” I have no objection to that practice. Personally I don’t care which forum a thread is in, although I understand others feel differently. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/7 "2020-07-17T18:41:47Z")
either let us call people trolls in Great Debates if they are clearly trolling, or more threads derailed by trolls to the pit where we can call them out. Simple as that. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/8 "2020-07-17T18:46:05Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > either let us call people trolls in Great Debates if they are clearly trolling, or more threads derailed by trolls to the pit where we can call them out. Simple as that Or you could punish the trolls themselves. Even simpler than that. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/9 "2020-07-17T19:04:31Z")
That thread was basically finished anyway – we found out what is done when a minority is OK with the stereotype – Cartoon Network brought back Speedy Gonzalez. What else was there to talk about? Then, **puddleglum** comes in with that post, which showed either remarkable cluelessness (and he’s not normally that clueless), or purposeful obtuseness, or was meant to offend. Since the thread was finished anyway, the options were to close it (which **Velocity** could still request), warn **pg** , or move it. I’m happier with the move than the warning, and if it really bothers **Velocity** that much, he could ask that it be closed. No harm, no foul. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/10 "2020-07-17T19:08:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or you could punish the trolls themselves. Even simpler than that. Forget it, Czarcasm. It’s StraightDopeTown. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/11 "2020-07-17T19:10:41Z")
Indeed, as i suggested. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/12 "2020-07-17T19:48:39Z")
I once had a thread moved from IMHO to Cafe Society. Talk about an abuse of moderator powers!! Where were you then, **DrDeth**? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/13 "2020-07-17T19:54:41Z")
They came first for an IMHO thread, and I didn’t speak up because I didn’t have an opinion… ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/14 "2020-07-17T20:27:30Z")
That thread should have been born in the pit. I think JC made the right call. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/15 "2020-07-18T01:37:19Z")
Half of **Velocity** ’s threads should start in the Pit. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/16 "2020-07-18T01:59:23Z")
Oh dear, is it time for another one of **DrDeth** ’s “I Hate the Pit” threads already? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/17 "2020-07-18T02:15:38Z")
I agree with the OP. If I start a thread in Great Debates which promises no personal attacks, and a mod thinks I’m so stupid that he moves my thread to the Pit so he and others can rake shors at me, well that’s pretty obnoxious, and a violation of at least the spirit of the rules. It’s kind of like announcing a ‘safe space’, then deciding that the people in it don’t deserve safety and therefore declaring that the safe space has been removed just for them, and people are now free to attack them. If people have a problem with a poster or a thread, they can start a new one in the Pit. If the mods think the thread has gone off the rails, they can close it. If a poster is trolling, they dan be warned or banned. But threads should never be moved to the pit. It’s not at all the same as moving a thread from Cafe Society to Great Debates because the topic is more suirable for that place. And it forces the original poster to either be subjected to abuse or abandon their own thread and allow others to have the last word, when the thread was started in a place that was supposed to protect them from that. Also, if you are so angry about some rando’s thoughts on the internet that you just have to find a way to hurl abuse at them rather than ignoring them or engaging in a civil discussion, perhaps you need to just step back from the keyboard and calm down. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/18 "2020-07-18T08:27:26Z")
Why the hell do you capitalize “pit?” It makes you look like a lunatic. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2020, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/19 "2020-07-18T11:40:29Z")
Oh, you mean capitalize all the letters. At first I was thinking “Becasue it’s a forum name?” I think it’s just for emphasis. However, has anyone tested if we can use bold or italics in titles now? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sending-a-thread-to-the-pit-to-punish-a-poster/915602/20 "2020-07-18T11:59:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But threads should never be moved to the pit. It’s not at all the same as moving a thread from Cafe Society to Great Debates because the topic is more suirable for that place. And it forces the original poster to either be subjected to abuse or abandon their own thread and allow others to have the last word, when the thread was started in a place that was supposed to protect them from that. I think a healthy dose of “_Kill your darlings_” is in order.