# Seven's Suspension **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 30, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738 "2009-07-30T01:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/201 "2009-07-31T20:10:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You may opine all you like, but I think you should engage in more consideration of the content of your posts and less consideration of the content of mine. My response was pretty reserved. If you got the impression that your suggestion that my opinions do not count and I should stop posting was not appreciated, that demonstrates your reading comprehension skills are functional. I expressed that in a pretty polite fashion considering how impolite the suggestion was. If you are that interested in opining on such matters, that might be cause for reflection. Emily Post, heal thyself, as it were. So, a bare statement by me, without any vitriol, invective, or snark, that you should drop out of the proceedings because your viewpoint is logically irrelevant to the discussion, causes you to feel that your “opinions don’t count” and my post is “not appreciated”? Please, I think you need to step back from this one, if that is the case. I made a simple statement of fact, drew a simple conclusion from it, and didn’t in any way cast aspersions on you in the process. Which I certainly could have had I wanted. In response, you act impolitely, in a way that is unhelpful to the situation, will result in an emotional response, and can be avoided. I hope you aren’t surprised when I say that’s not good behavior for someone who is in your official position. :smack: > [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I trust you won’t view this question as snarky, but have you read many of Cecil’s books or columns? > > This is the **Straight Dope** message board. It’s based on columns written by a man whose popularity lies largely on his snark. Granted, I don’t think that every moderator comment on the board should be insulting, snarky, or sarcastic, but the board is supposed to fight ignorance in a _fun_ way. > > And, as a side note, humor can often diffuse a situation where a robotic response couldn’t. Saying “You are being insulting in a forum where it is not allowed. This is an official moderator warning” isn’t going to get laughed off. Saying, “Hey, who pissed in your cornflakes this morning? Can you dial it back a notch?” just might. > > The art of moderation lies in figuring out when to use which response. 1. One can be humorous, wihtout being snarky. And the cornflakes statement is a bad example: it was misused recently by a moderator in a snarky way instead of a light-hearted way. But when one is humorous, that’s certainly a plus, as it can diffuse tension. 🙂 2. Uncle Cecil, in his persona as the writer of the Straight Dope is entitled to be as snarky as he wants. He’s an author, not a referee in that situation. Ed Zotti, when he comes in to the Board as an Administrator, acting in that official capacity, is NOT entitled to be as snarky as he wants. Why? Because when you are acting as a referee, you don’t get to be a snark. Why? Because your purpose as a referee is to tamp things DOWN, not stir them UP. If you are called to act as a moderator, it’s because you are doing one of three things: telling a jerk to stop being a jerk, separating the kids who are fighting, or explaining what has been done, or might be done, to respond to the pitchforks at the castle moat. In none of these cases is it advisable to respond to a poster in a way that is likely to produce a negative emotional response. I hope you can see that that is the case. For some moderators, the lightly bantering humorous approach works. They are like the “cool” teacher who manages to get the kids to do what they want without being the “heavy,” but rather by joshing everyone into being good. Other moderators are relatively poor at that sort of refereeing. They are too serious for it, for one reason or another. For those moderators, the best approach is to be professional. Stick to an emotionally neutral tone in all official actions. Leave the cutting up and tearing down for the things that they do as a private poster, not an official member of the staff. I SAY these things because I’ve been involved for a number of years in various activities that are of similar nature to what the moderators do. I have in the past run volunteer referee programs for youth soccer leagues, at one time organizing such a program for the entire South Bay and Monterey area. This involved teaching people how to referee soccer, especially youth leagues, where the testosterone at the U-19 and U-16 levels gets pretty darn high, with predictable results, and that’s NOT counting the idiocy that is the typical soccer parent. :eek: I’m also a teacher, who deals with high school kids on a daily basis during the school year. A large part of teaching is dealing with discipline, that is, refereeing your room. So when I opine that these things are true, it’s because I’ve seen how this sort of thing plays out in similar situations. And trust me, engaging people who you are taking official action on, which invariably means putting limits on their actions, in such a way as to engage a negative emotional response is not the way to do those jobs. I’m protective and supportive of staff here on a regular basis. I’m known for telling people to give staff a break, in large part because most of the staff are volunteers, and they deserve that break. But, in response, staff need to act in such a way that the Board is not disrupted by the jerks, without themselves becoming provocateurs in their own right. And I think that means don’t say something that is likely to get the recipient upset, either as the result of tone or meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/202 "2009-07-31T23:33:35Z")
God only knows why I’m an issue in this at all. Looking at the three links Marly provided, Seven really took only one potshot at me. And I swear with my hand to God that (1) I never even saw it before now, and (2) it wouldn’t have mattered a hill of beans to me. So, personally, if I have any dog in this fight, it’s a miniature chihuahua that’ll fit in your shirt pocket. I see a lot of “he took pot shots at Liberal” or the equivalent repeatedly. But. He. Did. Not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/203 "2009-08-01T00:01:50Z")
> [@Who\_me\_1](#): > > Since when is **DrDeth** a mod? Heaven Forbid!:eek:😛 ---
**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:** [August 1, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/204 "2009-08-01T00:08:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Heaven Forbid!:eek:😛 Yes, I know…for some reason I thought he was responding to Marley. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/205 "2009-08-01T00:52:07Z")
Damn **Marley** could you possibly BE any more of an apologist tool? You know as well as everyone else reading these damn threads that **seven** was banned for nothing more than quoting **Tuba** ’s PM in public. Why do you keep trying to deny it? every time you come up with a new retroactive rule that MIGHT cover the situation, you look like a complete idiot. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/206 "2009-08-01T01:00:34Z")
Personal insults are not appropriate in ATMB, **Xploder**. Please do not do this again. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/207 "2009-08-01T10:32:58Z")
noted ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/208 "2009-08-01T10:50:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > As I posted over the weekend, if you read his posts over the last several months, you’ll find virtually nothing except complaints about moderation and attacks on one other poster. If things are that awful here one wonders why he stuck around. By saying this you are assuming that his complaints were not valid. That is an unfortunate decision on your part. A better path would have been to fix the problems that he complained about, rather than to ban him for offending Tuba. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/209 "2009-08-03T20:45:51Z")
I just came back to this message board recently, after “the troubles” (except for the occasional posts made to that brilliant individual (harummp) Rand Rover and his cronies) and I hoped that things had changed for the better. The recent move from banning to suspension might be considered admirable by some, but I don’t see anything posted by **Seven** (of Nine) to be even suspension worthy. Control freaks? Uptight people? My side note is based on posts in the other thread, but I’m timed out for another search, so I won’t post a link. Is it against the rules to say that someone’s user name is amazingly appropriate? Waving at **RNATB**. Regards, jali ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/210 "2009-08-03T21:07:01Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > By saying this you are assuming that his complaints were not valid. Yes, I am, although if someone complains all the time I guess he’s almost guaranteed to be right one in a while. At best, you’re talking about a situation where a blind pig occasionally finds an acorn. When people have complaints and issue, we do what we can - which is not always as much as we would like. We don’t often ban or suspend people for complaining. If it’s essentially all they do, it becomes a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/211 "2009-08-04T04:32:40Z")
Was that really _all_ that \*_Seven_ did “essentially”? What **Tuba Diva** said to him through PM was a dilly of a complaint. Are we losing the “Straight” in Straight Dope Message Board in more ways than one? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/212 "2009-08-04T05:46:59Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > What **Tuba Diva** said to him through PM was a dilly of a complaint. Tell me, what did Seven say (by PM) to Tuba that caused that response? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/213 "2009-08-04T05:52:41Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Was that really _all_ that \*_Seven_ did “essentially”? Not sure what you mean here. Did he do anything except complain? Yes, he put some energy into attacking other posters, including a couple of times in the wrong forums, resulting in warnings. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738/214 "2009-08-04T12:25:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tell me, what did Seven say (by PM) to Tuba that caused that response? Whatever **Seven** said privately to **TubaDiva** is irrelevant. I’m not trying to be callous. On a personal basis, it’s not irrelevant. But no matter how scathing, how vitriolic, how **wrong** **Seven** ’s private message (if there was one) might have been, it would not justify anything but a professional response from a staff member, any more than the expletive laden dissent from a player would justify more from me as a referee than the professional showing of the red card and a firm indication that the player needed to head to the showers. This is a point I’ve been trying to emphasize: staff cannot indulge in personal battles of animosity with posters no matter how obsterperous the poster is being. If that’s not possible for a particular staff member, then that staff person needs to call in someone else to handle the situation for them. Not that I think this really has a whole lot to do with **Seven** ’s suspension; again, regardless of what we as posters think of our treatment by a staff member, that doesn’t entitle us to act like a jerk in response. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sevens-suspension/504738.md?page=10)