# Should all complaints be private? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025 "2010-11-09T13:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/1 "2010-11-09T13:05:00Z")
> [@Why does this forum allow member complaints?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-forum-allow-member-complaints/559856/39): > > … both the majority of posters and the entirety of staff disagree with the notion that all complaints should be private. I thought this might be bit of a leap so I thought I’d start a poll. I’m a little surprised that it’s completely unanimous amongst staff. I guess tom would know better than me on that score but I’m not sure how he’s so confident about the majority of the membership. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/2 "2010-11-09T13:27:54Z")
_Civil_ complaints should be public. Even if you disagree with a decision, there is no reason to be disrespectful to those who voluntarily bust ass trying to make this work. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/3 "2010-11-09T14:00:02Z")
The only use of polls in ATMB is as a test – we don’t operate this place by popular vote and so we do not allow polling here as a general rule. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/4 "2010-11-09T14:04:42Z")
Well, I certainly didn’t intend this to be a binding referendum or anything, and I was actually unaware that polling was frowned upon in this forum. Just thought everyone would like to see where people generally are on the issue. eta: obviously, given the rules of this sub-forum, _civil_ complaints was meant to be implied. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/5 "2010-11-09T19:41:44Z")
Complaints should be public. If they are without merit, it will be shown through the analysis of third parties. If they do have merit, things may change through the same mechanism. It’s a message board, which means oversight by the members. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/6 "2010-11-10T02:48:27Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I guess tom would know better than me on that score but I’m not sure how he’s so confident about the majority of the membership. Experience reading the board. (Given that the “allow public” option is currently above 80% with a bit over 30 respondents, I would guess that my confidence is justified. 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/7 "2010-11-10T03:02:11Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > (Given that the “allow public” option is currently above 80% with a bit over 30 respondents, I would guess that my confidence is justified. 😛 ) Well, I assumed the same as you, actually. I just wondered how it would go in an actual anonymous poll. Just curious: At what level of polling would you have said that your confidence was _not_ justified. Anything less than 60% would have surprised me and made me what I was missing. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/8 "2010-11-11T07:01:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > …made me what I was missing. Perhaps the word wondering? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/9 "2010-11-11T09:50:48Z")
I missing my dog ☹ ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-all-complaints-be-private/560025/10 "2010-11-11T12:00:16Z")
I think the current system works well, in that you can choose to contact a mod via pm, or you can choose to post your complaint on the forum.