# What happened to the "What is this place?" thread {it was a troll} **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 18, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953 "2025-11-18T14:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/1 "2025-11-18T14:39:22Z")
A new member – “pigeonhole” or something – stumbled on the SDMB and created a thread with that title. I was responding, but by the time I was ready to post, the thread had been deleted. Spammer? Sock? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/2 "2025-11-18T14:44:36Z")
I was wondering the same thing! I was in the middle of editing my post (to delete a duplicate “was” in my reply) when the whole thread disappeared! I thought it was a perfectly innocuous thread. I was actually trying to figure out how to send a message to the moderators to inquire. Do we still have a list of moderators for each forum? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/3 "2025-11-18T14:46:33Z")
I think if you report your post, it will go to the moderators and someone will probably answer. My guess is repeating sock. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/4 "2025-11-18T14:48:01Z")
Well, my guess is that, since the OP doesn’t come up in a search for users with “pigeon” in their name, he was a sock who was automatically cornfielded. Confirmation from a mod? ETA: Posted before I saw @RitterSport’s post. I’m not replying to him, I’m agreeing with him in advance. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/5 "2025-11-18T14:52:29Z")
Even if it is deemed necessary by TPTB to ban the OP for being a sock, I wish the thread in question could be restored. An interesting discussion of the history of the SDMB was in progress. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/6 "2025-11-18T15:00:19Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I was actually trying to figure out how to send a message to the moderators to inquire. Do we still have a list of moderators for each forum? I haven’t checked all forums, but each of the four or five I did check has a post at the top entitled “About this forum”, or something along that line, and the forum moderators are listed in that post. Here at ATMB: > [@About the About This Message Board category](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-about-this-message-board-category/910998/1): > > For all questions, comments, and complaints about the SDMB. This is also the place for test threads. > > **Moderators** : > @engineer_comp_geek Cafe Society: > [@About the Cafe Society category](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-cafe-society-category/911005/1): > > Our salon for art, drama, literature, movies, music, comics, cuisine – all the artistic disciplines – if it’s about creativity, entertainment, or leisure, it goes here. > > **Moderators** : > @Chronos > @Puzzlegal > @What_Exit How current these lists are, however… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/7 "2025-11-18T15:34:34Z")
It was a troll. Sorry folks. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/8 "2025-12-08T09:31:42Z")
I often wonder about the mindset of repeat offenders. We are a tiny community on a tiny backwater of the internet. I mean, yes, the reason I am here is because the community as a whole has a vast spread of expertise, and I offer little. I’ve been banned from one forum before - excessive sarcasm seems to be the root cause, though I was directing it towards racists. But hey, I am not welcome there. What do I benefit by making a sock, and just getting banned again? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/9 "2025-12-08T14:45:43Z")
Another chance to prove that someone on the Internet is _wrong_? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/10 "2025-12-08T18:06:16Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > What do I benefit by making a sock, and just getting banned again? If you’re a troll, it’s just the forum equivalent of prank calling someone. It’s just as shallow. You think it’s funny and there are zero consequences. That or you are pissed and it’s a kind of petty revenge. Or a combination of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/11 "2025-12-18T16:20:50Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I’ve been banned from one forum before One forum (temporarily) banned me because TPTB there mistook me for a spammer. That board was eventually taken down, but not before being invaded by _real_ spammers. Signal to noise ratio toward the end was at the level of a needle in a haystack. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-what-is-this-place-thread-it-was-a-troll/1024953/12 "2025-12-18T17:05:48Z")
I was banned from the SDMB once (and so was everyone else)