What does 'RO' mean in regards to Pit threads?

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21

Well, is derisively jeering at the OP for an OP filled with obviously painful personal details considered threadshitting? In any other forum, it would be, especially in MPSIMS, but in the Pit, it’s standard procedure. People post lamentable rants all the time about how their lives are in the toilet, and it’s obvious to other people that the troubles are all entirely of their own doing. In MPSIMS you’re not allowed to point this out, but it happens all the time in the Pit, and Pitizens can be completely without mercy in this respect.

So if you’re going to specifically delineate a rule involving “no threadshitting” in the Pit, frankly I don’t see where you’d start, because nearly every response to some rants involves a brisk and usually profane disagreement as to the basic pointfullness of the OP.

In other words, a rule about threadshitting in the Pit would involve performing that most-desired-by-certain-people function, that of “Tidying up the Pit”.

I say let it be. If we’re going to have to start being overtly polite to Pit rants, with a rule about threadshitting in the Pit, then all you’ve done is create another MPSIMS, albeit a MPSIMS where you’re allowed to say “fuck” a lot.

And actually, I have always assumed that the rule about threadshitting did not apply to the Pit in the first place, because how can you threadshit a Pit rant?

And the Pit has historically been the place where jerkdom reigns supreme. I can’t even begin to count the number of times where some poor suffering creature bared his soul in the Pit, and then ten people told him, “Suck it up, douchebag.”

So I say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You can’t fix up the Dope into a totally snark-free zone; if you did, it wouldn’t be the Dope.

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[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven]
… and let’s please remember that THIS thread is in ATMB, and no personal insults are permitted.
[/QUOTE]

Since your post directly follows mine, could I get some clarification on who is doing the personal insulting?

I thought about reporting WhyNot’s post since she at least ostensibly insulted a group of people to which I belong, and I had already stated that I belonged to that group before she posted. But I refrained because of the rule here stating that insults of a group are allowed but personal insults are not.

However, her post was somewhat similar to the one that got this warning which was discussed in this thread. Apparently, in that case, insulting a group of people, if other people are already identified as part of the group in the thread is not allowed in IMHO. One would think that the rules would be similar, if not more stringent in ATMB, than in IMHO. In addition, posting a remark that can be seen as insulting by anyone in the thread when the thread doesn’t specifically call for it was considered threadshitting. So could I get some clarification about how this differs from that case as well?

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[QUOTE=USCDiver]
Ah, they’ve updated the glossary since the last time I read it. Interesting that the Glossary definition lends a condescending air to the term, but these posters are proudly displaying it in their thread titles.
[/QUOTE]
I didn’t know that glossary existed. Cool - I am obliquely referenced as “a doper” too.

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[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo]
Since your post directly follows mine, could I get some clarification on who is doing the personal insulting?
[/QUOTE]
I didn’t mean anyone in particular, I just thought we were getting very close to the edge and that a gentle reminder was not unreasonable, before things went downhill.

It’s always awkward when there’s an insult levelled at some group, and when posters are members of that group, to know how to deal with it. If the group-insult is just a disguise for hiding a personal insult, then it’s a transgression.

And on whether thread-shitting is an offense in the Pit, I think you’ll have to ask the Pit moderators. I’ll try to get their attention to this. My guess is that the definition of thread-shitting would be different in the Pit than elsewhere.

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[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq]
How about some clarification on the issue that has arisen, namely, whether or not “threadshitting” is a violation of the “do not be a jerk” rule for the Board when done in the Pit. My supposition is “yes.” After all, it really doesn’t matter that it’s in the Pit; it’s still jerky behavior. The Pit isn’t the place where you can be a jerk of any kind, just the place you can let off some steam without being considered a jerk for so doing.
[/QUOTE]
It’s certainly not impossible to get called on threadshitting in the Pit (example), but it’s a much looser standard than with the other forums. For the most part, I think other posters are good about calling people on obnoxious or jerkish Pit posts and we only need to step in when posts are bordering on trollishness.

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[QUOTE=WhyNot]
… “ZOMG! This is recreational outrage! Why don’t U get a LIFE, suklkorrz???” …
[/QUOTE]

What’s the Z stand for?

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[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven]
I didn’t mean anyone in particular, I just thought we were getting very close to the edge and that a gentle reminder was not unreasonable, before things went downhill.
[/quote]

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t notice that at all.

That must indeed be difficult to moderate since the person being insulted would very likely take the insult personally, while it would be very difficult without knowing the personal relationship of the participants to know the intent of the person making the insult.

In this case, I have nothing but respect and admiration for most of WhyNot’s posts, including this one, with which I simply disagree.

Google shows:

from the Urban Dictionary

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[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo]

In this case, I have nothing but respect and admiration for most of WhyNot’s posts, including this one, with which I simply disagree.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, sweetie! I was mostly being silly and posting WAY too early with too much blood in my caffeine stream anyhow. Thanks for extending the benefit of the doubt.