# So I got this warning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695 "2015-06-16T19:12:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/41 "2015-06-17T23:00:50Z")
What happens when the cycle of being (or seeming to be) a jerk, and getting modded for it, and it jumps the blood/brain boundary from other forums into ATMB and becomes an infinite recursive loop? _Then_ what? Does the required hamsterpower become infinite? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/42 "2015-06-17T23:11:02Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > I’m lost. “He” who? **SA**? Please show where any moderator moderated him for being a jerk in this thread. Thats the point isn’t it. There was no moderation for being a jerk in this thread, and no post that required moderation for being a jerk. Rather the mod just said he was a jerk, just because. A mod, in ATMB, just decided to say a poster was a jerk. Its not like I’m too bothered about it, but people really can’t see how its inappropriate in an ATMB thread? ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/43 "2015-06-17T23:19:57Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Was he being a jerk in this thread? Yes, **GrandWino** was being a jerk in this thread (although I did laugh out loud at it). > [@](#): > > Did the moderators have to moderate him for being a jerk in this thread? If they want him to stop, it’s typically a good idea to call one out for such behavior, so yes. > [@](#): > > Or was it simply a potshot against an easy target over past occurrences? I’m not aware of any such occurrences, and since the post which triggered the moderation is in this very thread, I’m not sure what makes you think otherwise. And again, I did laugh, and often think of making similar wisecracks myself, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t jerky behavior, and it did happen in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/44 "2015-06-18T00:22:20Z")
Pretty sure **bucketybuck** is upset because a Mod called **StarvingArtist** a jerk in the warning issued to **GrandWino**. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/45 "2015-06-18T01:03:20Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Thats the point isn’t it. There was no moderation for being a jerk in this thread, and no post that required moderation for being a jerk. Rather the mod just said he was a jerk, just because. > > A mod, in ATMB, just decided to say a poster was a jerk. > > Its not like I’m too bothered about it, but people really can’t see how its inappropriate in an ATMB thread? Why you are under the impression that moderators need be “professional” (whatever that means in this context) in this or any other forum is beyond me. Do you recall what **Colibri** posted just upstream in this thread about how he often includes additional information in his Notes/Warnings by way of explanation and/or admonishment? All moderators do this, each in their own manner. I took **samclem** to not so much be taking a snarky sideswipe at **Starving Artist** but rather be directing an admonishment to him regarding his behavior in this thread. Additionally, if you’re upset about that, you must not have read some of Ed’s posts in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/46 "2015-06-18T01:11:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Guess how much that matters? Based on our own history, the way you conduct (or not) your own moderation and the nature of your behavior in this thread, I’m guessing that if I got moderated for saying “Good Morning” and protested that it had never been off limits before, you’d say it doesn’t matter. You’ve lied in the past about my PMs, you’ve ignored my reports of post violations (though you’re hardly the only one), you insult me while acting as a mod, and it’s usually you who rushes in to establish “the position of the SDMB” whenever I voice a complaint in this forum. I pretty much knew a reasonable and honorable conclusion was out of the question once you entered the thread. To get back to the warning in question (and to the forum’s moderators as a whole), it’s never been a policy or requirement that everyone participating in a thread should read every word of a mod note, and furthermore that wasn’t **IvoryTowerDenizen’s** justification for giving me a warning. She felt it was a “thinly veiled” attempt to get around her instructions, and apparently used that as her justification for giving me a warning rather than a mod note like almost anyone else would have gotten. It was only after it became apparent that I was not trying to flout her instructions but never even saw them due to the way her post was constructed that the requirement to read all of a mod note suddenly became ‘the position of the SDMB’. But let’s call a spade a fucking shovel here and get down to tacks. It appears I’m being more much heavily moderated around here than I have been in the past. I’m not posting 2% as much as I did the first seven or eight years I was here, nor, apart from the Paterno thread, have I been engaged in anywhere near many flame wars. Yet during that seven or eight years I received not a single warning. Now all of a sudden I’ve racked up three warnings in the last two and a half years despite a much reduced level of post volume and acrimony, and if the current warning is any indication it appears I’m being kept on a very short leash indeed. I say this because neither the Frankenstein comment nor **Una’s** (which appeared to imply either a threat of physical violence or an attempt to goad another poster into making a comment that would get him banned, both of which are warnable offenses) drew a warning, yet those offenses were considerably more egregious and warnable than the rather minor one I made. This change in the way I’m been moderated seems to have come in the wake of the posts I made three or four years ago which laid the blame for many of society’s ills at the feet of liberalism (in answer to claims that a person had to be evil in order to be a Republican), and secondarily the Paterno thread…both of which pissed off a lot of people (and moderators) around here and undoubtedly increased the work load of the board’s moderators who’ve had to deal with the fallout. All of this leads me to believe that there’s an effort underway to essentially disappear me ala **Gonzomax** and **Der Trihs** (who admittedly was suspended but would certainly have been banned soon after his return), among others. There seems to be an effort underway to rid the board of particularly troublesome posters, and one of the ways this is being accomplished is to begin issuing warnings for very minor infractions - assuming they’re infractions at all according to previously accepted board practice…I know I’ve had trouble seeing anything wrong with some of the linked offenses posted as reasons for banning people the last couple of years. But seeing as how **Ed** has basically turned the board over to the moderators to do as they please, it’s not surprising they might wind up working to turn the board into an echo chamber, which carries the advantage not only of eliminating the discouraging word but reduces the amount of time spent having to deal with complaints. It would be both more honest and less time consuming if you would just admit it if this is the case, give me some time to say goodbye to some of the posters I’d like to say goodbye to (and compliment others who might be surprised hear it) then ban me and allow me to exit the board in a way that would be more dignified for all of us. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/47 "2015-06-18T01:18:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. “I didn’t think it was about me!” isn’t an excuse. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > Doesn’t matter. If you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > You are, of course, free to believe whatever you want. But while you’re a poster on the SDMB, if you see a mod note in a thread in which you are participating, read it. > > I hope I’ve made the position of the SDMB sufficiently clear? When did this become The Law? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/48 "2015-06-18T01:20:39Z")
FWIW, none of that backstory had anything to do with it. You got a warning for ignoring mod instructions, which is what happened. So it was right there, in the warning, that you were called out for ignoring my instructions. No retconning later needed. It was a warning, rather than a note, because the topic had become nasty and heated and extremely unkind that it needed to be shut down. To have that instruction ignored just a handful of posts later needed to be dealt with. If anything I regret not giving more warnings, rather than fewer. You may not believe me, and that’s your prerogative, but your past had nothing to do with it and I know of no conspiracy to eliminate you. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/49 "2015-06-18T01:28:23Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Why you are under the impression that moderators need be “professional” (whatever that means in this context) in this or any other forum is beyond me. Do you recall what **Colibri** posted just upstream in this thread about how he often includes additional information in his Notes/Warnings by way of explanation and/or admonishment? All moderators do this, each in their own manner. I took **samclem** to not so much be taking a snarky sideswipe at **Starving Artist** but rather be directing an admonishment to him regarding his behavior in this thread. But it wasn’t an “admonishment” (to **Starving Artist** ) for anything he wrote in this thread, it was a gratuitous personal insult, the same offense **Grand Wino** was being warned for. I don’t usually get involved in this kind of thing, but FWIW it gave me pause as well. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/50 "2015-06-18T01:44:56Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > FWIW, none of that backstory had anything to do with it. You got a warning for ignoring mod instructions, which is what happened. So it was right there, in the warning, that you were called out for ignoring my instructions. No retconning later needed. > > It was a warning, rather than a note, because the topic had become nasty and heated and extremely unkind that it needed to be shut down. To have that instruction ignored just a handful of posts later needed to be dealt with. In that case, given that the post was not inflammatory and the comments regarding transgenderism were tangential and not even the focus of the post, I would think a mod note reminding me of the instruction would have been more in line with past practice on the board. But once you found out I wasn’t deliberately disobeying your orders, I think a reversal of the warning would have been appropriate. You had already accomplished what you wanted to do in shutting down the topic, and you had learned that no disrespect was intended in what I said. It’s certainly true, as **Little Nemo** said, that it would be impossible to moderate the board if a poster could simply claim not to have seen a note, but I felt in this case that it was an excusable oversight because the note was buried in another note addressing a different (albeit related) issue. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You may not believe me, and that’s your prerogative, but your past had nothing to do with it… I do believe you, and thanks. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > and I know of no conspiracy to eliminate you. Thank you for this too. I may be wrong about my suspicions in this regard and I know that. But it’s something I’ve suspected for some time and I thought it best to get it out in the open and see how it shakes out. I appreciate your comments. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/51 "2015-06-18T01:56:37Z")
> [@camille](#): > > But it wasn’t an “admonishment” (to **Starving Artist** ) for anything he wrote in this thread, it was a gratuitous personal insult, the same offense **Grand Wino** was being warned for. > > I don’t usually get involved in this kind of thing, but FWIW it gave me pause as well. FWIW, I’m not really bothered by **samclem’s** comment. He’s a good guy and I took what he said with a grain of salt. I’m not a jerk but I post a lot of things that people don’t like and that makes them think of me as a jerk, and that’s probably where **samclem’s** coming from. There’s also the fact that some of the mods, when put in the position of having to moderate someone where I’m involved, almost seem to feel compelled to include a dig at my expense just to make it clear they’re acting out of _noblesse oblige_ rather taking up for me (:D), and that may have been some of his motivation as well. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/52 "2015-06-18T02:08:59Z")
Thank you, **Starving Artist** , for coming to my defense. I could feel the ire building. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/53 "2015-06-18T02:10:48Z")
No problem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/54 "2015-06-18T02:26:50Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Thank you, **Starving Artist** , for coming to my defense. I could feel the ire building. I didn’t mean it as an attack towards you; I’d just never seen it happen in a mod post before now. In any case, if **SA** is okay with it, all well and good. Not my call. ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/55 "2015-06-18T03:05:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You’ve lied in the past about my PMs, you’ve ignored my reports of post violations (though you’re hardly the only one), you insult me while acting as a mod, and it’s usually you who rushes in to establish “the position of the SDMB” whenever I voice a complaint in this forum. I pretty much knew a reasonable and honorable conclusion was out of the question once you entered the thread. I’ll cop to insulting you while acting as a mod. I mean, [the context was me explaining to the literally dozens of people who were demanding that you be banned over the Paterno thing why your behavior was perfectly acceptable within the rules of the Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=640515), but yeah, that’s definitely a thing that happened. And while I don’t often respond to post reports if I feel there’s not an actual rules violation going on, I never ignore a report I get - I read each one, and investigate it to see if there’s a rules violation occurring or not. But I can see how that might look like me ignoring you, particularly given our history. I’ll take you at your word that I’m always the first to show up when you start an ATMB thread. As for you not getting a fair hearing because of that, well, I only wish I had that kind of pull with the rest of the mods. But I think you must have confused me with someone else on the PM thing. Housekeeping not being my forte, I’ve still got every PM I’ve ever received here going back to 2007, and I’ve can’t find a single one from you. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/56 "2015-06-18T03:21:34Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > When did this become The Law? Pretty much always. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/57 "2015-06-18T03:27:50Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/58 "2015-06-18T03:28:02Z")
Then there certainly must be some reference to it other than in this thread. Could you direct me to where that might be? A sticky? A FAQ? Something? Ignorance of the law may be no defense, but this particular law seems rather…obscure. I’ve been here twelve years and never saw a mod trot this one out before today. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/59 "2015-06-18T03:33:27Z")
To be clear- you’re asking where it’s written down that you have to follow moderator instructions? Or are you asking something else? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695/60 "2015-06-18T03:40:04Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > … nor **Una’s** (which appeared to imply either a threat of physical violence or an attempt to goad another poster into making a comment that would get him banned, both of which are warnable offenses) drew a warning, yet those offenses were considerably more egregious and warnable than the rather minor one I made. Play to the ref’ and try to spin all you want, you need to come to grips with the fact that you don’t get to determine what are and are not warnable actions on this message board. You are, of course, incorrect entirely about my motivations and the meaning of what I write. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-this-warning/722695.md?page=4)