A qualification that, if applied across the board, would bring the SDMB to a screeching halt.
If I thought that was true of the majority of posters, I wouldn’t be here.
What has, in fact, brought things to a screeching halt is a moderator feeling the need to lock threads because of, well, that’s what this thread’s about - what exactly the cause of those lockings is.
Explained in post #89.
Which Ellen Cherry states was an imperfect solution, and refers to people in this thread working through it to try to see if there’s a better one.
She writes
which leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether he is breaking a rule or not. I asked earlier, and I’ll ask again - can a moderator unambiguously state that Dio is doing nothing wrong? If so, well, that will be that as far as I’m concerned. I’ve no desire to get into a fight with the mods.
In the thread about the 8-year-old, he backed up all his points with his own experiences and his own observations about the dangerousness of pointy wood trim. In the thread about the 25 year old, he didn’t do a very good job of defending his position, but I don’t know how anyone could back up a statement that a 25 year old is always a perv (or not) for dating a 17 year old. You either believe it or you don’t.
OP: Which is closer to gray, black or white?
Doper A: Black, because gray is kind of dark.
Doper B: Black
Dio: I disagree, it is definitely White. I had a gray crayon that was almost white once.
Doper C: No, that’s nuts. Black.
Doper D: Yeah, that’s nuts, black.
Doper E. I agree, that’s nuts, black.
Dio: No, it’s always white.
Doper F: Back to the OP, black.
Doper G: I think it’s usually black.
Doper C: Dio, you’re wrong. Black.
Doper D: Yeah, Dio, you’re wrong. Black.
Doper E. I agree, Dio, you keep ruining everything, black.
Dio: No, white. You’re wrong. I am right. I am my cite.
Dopers: It’s the Dio show! Why must we be forced to put up with this? He ruins everything! He won’t stop answering us! He is making us answer him back! We can’t stop! Why should we have to stop? We will continue to answer to his posts until he quits! He made this a trainwreck! He’s a troll! He won’t give a cite! Now the thread’s going to be closed, and it’s ALL HIS FAULT!
I’m still waiting for a cogent reply to post 101. And how that whole thing is supposed to work.
The thing with this example is, only Dio gives any reason for an opinion. If that’s what happened in other threads, you would of course be right. However, what usually happens is the exact opposite - many posters give reasoned arguments, and Dio ignores them, posting a terse assertion that something is fact, with no attempt to address the arguments.
And what would be the broken rule, or “crime” as you would have it, that we would prosecute him for? Annoyance? Having a contrary opinion?
But, billfish, really what you’re suggesting is that no one with the opposite opinion be able to respond to the people who call him out on his opposite opinion. I just can’t see how you can accomplish that. People are going to try to pile on the guy who has the opposite opinion, and he’s going to have to reply.
Then that wasn’t an official warning. Candy bar to the first poster who can find one from the last 3 years.
A lot of Dio’s cite-less opinions really aren’t quantifiable in the first place.
I don’t think the trainwrecks should have been closed. Maybe just another “move along here or take it to the pit” warning or something. I’ve seen much worse trainwrecks that get back on track.
From the now-closed teen sex thread -
I’ve had to manually quote it as the thread is locked. This should hopefully be a link to the post, if I’ve done it right.
As OTHERS have said, tell him (and everyone else) to knock it off. You guys love the “don’t be a jerk rule” except for the one instance that seems to be exactly what the rule was designed for.
You still haven’t answered whether you’d allow alternate threads or what you’d do besides lock the thread when Dio shows up.
Which is the whole damn problem. The. Thread. Gets. Locked. You mods are at least a third of the Dio problem.
How about a member non-anonymous vote that “something” must be done about Dio? Not WHAT exactly must be done, just that something besides trainwrecks followed by locking might be preferable. You mods and the powers that be obviously wouldn’t be required to do anything, but I do think you’d get a real feel for how many people actually feel. Even posters that agree with Dio are tired of it. Posters that are probably mortal enemies find themselves in agreement regarding the Dio show. Posters that rarely complain or get into BBQ pit action feel compelled to get their two cents worth in.
All opinion of course.
“Don’t be a jerk.” I think everyone in this thread who is arguing that Dio isn’t doing anything wrong and it’s everyone else who has a problem are being painfully disingenuous. There’s obviously a problem, or Dio wouldn’t keep on getting Pitted (30 times is it now? Holy shit!), and threads where he takes them off the rails wouldn’t keep getting locked.
Maybe we need “Don’t Be A Jerk: Subsection 1: Don’t Ruin it For Everyone Else.”
For the record, I’ve been turning this over in my head since your post, Ellen Cherry, and I think I do see how thorny this is for the moderators and admins, but I think everyone has to admit that there is indeed a problem here.
Then unlock the threads in question. Or just stop playing your own version of the Dio Show, and address points honestly.
Snickers or Baby Ruth, Steophan?
“We have one guiding principle: Don’t be a jerk.”
Is this really that effin’ hard?
I think it has gotten to the point that, if Dio gives a contrary opinion there is now a race to see who can post a “OMG! It’s the Dio Show!” thread in The BBQ Pit. I have this suspicion that if he weren’t posting, someone else’s postings would quickly fill in the vacuum. A large part of the problem(in my opinion) is that this has turned into a vicious game for some posters-they enthusiastically look for opportunities to make the too-oft heard proclamation.
I have posted honestly. The fact that my answers do not match up with what you want to hear is not something I can really help you with.