# Wha't swith all the "Moderating"? BAH! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035 "2000-09-29T17:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/1 "2000-09-29T17:59:07Z")
A year ago when I first became a Doper, I reveled in the intelligent discourse between free and free-thinking adults that I found here. People said and posted all kinds of things, and as a general rule they managed to conduct themselves responsibly. When they stepped out of line, however that might occur, they were censured by the group itself. I stopped coming around much for quite awhile. Dropped in occasionally, but only to read one or two posts or ask a question. Well, I’ve been reading alot more lately, and I must say I’m disappointed and actually annoyed at the number of edits and deletions from the moderators that I’m seeing. What the hell happened? When did someonoe decide that we all needed a keeper? Almost all of the “moderating” that I’ve seen seemed to be pretty heavy handed (I could piece together the likely nature of what was removed) and I simply cannot imagine why it was done. Last time I checked, this crew seemed to be made up of (mostly) intelligent, thoughtful, stable adult persons who are perfectly capable of avoiding what they might be offended by and dealign with it if it ends up in their consciousness anyway. One of the biggest reasons I despise AOL is the way they treat everyone as though they are children and step in to “moderate” discussions. I have been contributing to and reading public forums for many years, dating to long before the Internet, and the quickest way to kill one that’s really interesting, is to start trying to “protect” people from being “offended”. My god, what happens if someone gets offended? Their head explodes? Apart from things which could put the board owners in legal difficulty (wholesale copyright infringement), I say back the fuck off and let us decide for ourselves. Because I’ll tell ya, it offends ME to be treated this way. hrmph. stoid annoid ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/2 "2000-09-29T18:08:37Z")
I’ll admit that I’m not a long term member. However. What I’ve seen from the moderators: 1. They’ve deleted threads that either violated the terms of the user agreement or in one case that I know about, the OP contained a link to a site that caused all sorts of problems for those who clicked on it. This I felt, was the responsible thing to do. 2. They’ve deleted link AND said why in several other cases, in all of those cases, the link violated the terms of the user agreement OR contained graphic images that were unsuitable for children (and there are children here) 3. Every time they’ve modified a post, they’ve indicated what was modified and why. 4. They’ve closed threads that were opened in the wrong forum or were a copy of another active thread, each time, identifying why. So, what is it exactly that is your issue with any of this? If people don’t follow the rules, they should expect their threads to be modified, deleted or moved. (by the way, this should NOT qualify as shameless sucking up to mods. I do that better on the sly) ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/3 "2000-09-29T18:18:29Z")
> [@](#): > > the number of edits and deletions from the moderators that I’m seeing Examples? > [@](#): > > What the hell happened? Well, when you joined there were fewer than 2000 registered users, for one thing. For another, when you joined troll attacks were an occasional and minor annoyance. A large number of registered posters, coupled with a large number active posters, coupled with children learning how to use their computers to harass, annoy, and irritate, leads to the need for more stringent moderation. I think it’s merely a badge of the board’s popularity. “Popular censuring” simply hasn’t cut it to date. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/4 "2000-09-29T18:50:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoidela \* > People said and posted all kinds of things, and as a general rule they managed to conduct themselves responsibly. Well did people while conducting themselves responsibly link directly to porn and images of a very graphic nature, one link I remember that was deleted was to a picture of a woman who was covered in blood and cuts and was being raped(probably fake). Where they hit and run spammers? These are the find of links I’ve seen deleted. I have seen some language that was deleted which I thought was a bit over the top but the links that where deleted I tend to agree with. I have read large amount of topics on this board including discussions about necrophilia and all forms of sexual perversion. Some very graphic sexual threads and the kind of launguage that would make a construction worker blush. I don’t think we are being protected. The Admin. IMO just don’t want easy click-thru links to these sites on their property. You can still find them, there not gone anywhere. They’re just not accessible through _The Straightdope_ ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/5 "2000-09-29T20:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoidela \* > \*\*Well, I’ve been reading alot more lately, and I must say I’m disappointed and actually annoyed at the number of edits and deletions from the moderators that I’m seeing. What the hell happened? When did someonoe decide that we all needed a keeper? Almost all of the “moderating” that I’ve seen seemed to be pretty heavy handed (I could piece together the likely nature of what was removed) and I simply cannot imagine why it was done. \*\* Maybe you could elucidate to us about the number of posts that are edited or deleted. In my experience, it’s an extremely small percent. Extremely. Heavy handed? We could be a lot worse. Most of the times when we edit or delete something we send off a small note to the offender as to why we did it. MOST times, the offender responds in kind. MOST times. Again, the number of times when they don’t take our warnings to heart is very rare, so we don’t really have to be heavy handed. And when did “someonoe” decide that we all need a keeper? We didn’t. But this board has been moderated since DAY ONE. Knowing it was moderated was something you agreed to live with when you signed up. If you don’t like it … well, there’s always Usenet. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/6 "2000-09-29T20:58:14Z")
Say what??? I have been here forever and I haven’t noticed any heavy hands or excessive moderating. There was that time Uncle Beer and Euty wanted me to spank them, but I’m not a moderator and it really didn’t have a lot to do with the board. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/7 "2000-09-29T21:00:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*There was that time Uncle Beer and Euty wanted me to spank them, but I’m not a moderator and it really didn’t have a lot to do with the board. \*\* And don’t think we’re not still waiting! ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/8 "2000-09-29T21:01:02Z")
Yeah, sure, Yuty. How about explaining why that thread disappeared without a trace, you know, the one where Cecil calls me a “genuis”, and a delight to be around!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/9 "2000-09-29T21:03:42Z")
For shame, Euty, you’re a married man!!! ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/10 "2000-09-29T21:04:57Z")
Euty’s got it. Swing by usenet and hang out for a while there. I used to. I was quite the avid alt.folklore.urban geek for many months. Great people there. Very intelligent and witty folk. I’m talking SDMB caliber people here. The problem is that there is a disgustingly low signal to noise ratio. Spam like you wouldn’t believe. People turning pretty much any discussion into a crazed dramatic Holocaust discussion. Godwin’s law was invoked several dozen times a day. It was damn frustrating. The vast majority of mod work is moving threads to appropriate locations. Very rarely do we close threads. And I can count the threads I’ve deleted on one hand. And that’s after two or three major Troll Uprisings. I’d love to see specific examples of what you see as mods being “keepers”. I got news for you. The vast majority of threads that I have taken action on have been done at the request of loyal SDMB posters. So you see, in a way, we are letting you “decide for yourselves”. If you think a active message board with almost 10,000 registered particpants can be silmutaneously worthy of reading and virtually unmoderated then I admire your MDMA-induced optimistic view of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/11 "2000-09-29T22:08:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > **Godwin’s law was invoked several dozen times a day** OK, educate the dumb guy here. Does this refer to when people stop responding to people or not taking them seriously anymore because they call everything they dislike “Nazi”-this and that? I wanna know, cause there’s this Dutch Auto site I post, and this other reg there does that all the time. He has an anti-speedcamera site, and always refers to the Highway Police as Nazis and such. Needless to say, this guy is an idiot. I’d like to set him straight. Is this the law I need? ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/12 "2000-09-29T22:18:35Z")
From [The Jargon Dictionary](http://info.astrian.net/jargon/) [Godwin’s Law](http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/g/Godwin_s_Law.html) > [@](#): > > **Godwin’s Law** _prov. [Usenet]_ “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” There is a > tradition in many groups that, once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. > Godwin’s Law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that > any _intentional_ triggering of Godwin’s Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/13 "2000-09-29T23:22:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoidela \* > \*\*I say back the fuck off and let us decide for ourselves. Because I’ll tell ya, it offends ME to be treated this way. > > hrmph. > > stoid > annoid > \*\* And **I** say, it offends me that you go off for an extended period of time, come back and say **US.** And BTW, your language offends me. Oh, it is your right to say this? Well, the mods didn’t censor that, now did they? The mods on this board work really hard to keep things civil, to keep things reasonable. They DO NOT prevent people from expressing their opinions unless the poster in question is in violation of the agreement we all read and agreed to before we registered. I appreciate the mods on this board. They are working hard to maintain a civil place for people to discuss, talk and agree or disagree in an intelligent or reasonable manner. Also, there is the BBQ pit. When things get heated, they ship the thread over to the pit, and people can get icky over there. I am personally not a fan of the pit, but give me a break here-the pit is there, and if you feel the need to post something inflammatory, then DO IT!~ You are WRONG, buddy, wrong-wrong-wrong. And if you don’t like it here, then please don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. We don’t have insurance for bruised butts. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/14 "2000-09-29T23:31:13Z")
Just be thankful this isn’t one of those message boards where your message has to be _approved_ by the mods and you have to wait hours or days before your message is even posted. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/15 "2000-09-29T23:48:51Z")
I think the problem is that not enough people give the Mods/Admins chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/16 "2000-09-29T23:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE Bo Diddly \* > \*\*I think the problem is that not enough people give the Mods/Admins chocolate. \*\* … among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/17 "2000-09-30T00:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chief Crunch \* > \*\*Just be thankful this isn’t one of those message boards where your message has to be _approved_ by the mods and you have to wait hours or days before your message is even posted. \*\* Ye Gods! Imagine the horror! My post count would be in the mere dozens! –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/18 "2000-09-30T00:19:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > **Ye Gods! Imagine the horror! My post count would be in the mere dozens!** Res ipsa loquitur. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/19 "2000-09-30T00:21:31Z")
**Stoidela** , Here’s another person who disagrees with you. I haven’t seen any moderator abuse their position once, and frankly I sometimes wonder why they aren’t a little pickier. Granted I haven’t been here long, but I have no problem with what I’ve seen so far. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035/20 "2000-09-30T00:40:34Z")
I guess I just have a thicker skin and a much higher tolerance than most folks do. Evidently you’re all content with it, and majority rules, but I can’t think of a single thing I’ve seen deleted that (assuming I understood what was deleted, and sometimes you do and sometimes ya don’t) I felt should be, needed to be. I’ve always preferred to do my own editing, not have it done for me. I haven’t seen any edits that said “troll at work posting junk nobody cares about” - it was all edits that referred to something being offensive or tasteless or sexual or whatever. Someone here spoke of a link to a rape photo that included blood. And the topic/discossion? Was there no warning? Off the top of my head I can’t recall seeing any deleted item that didn’t have a remark from the original poster that gave some clue to what kind of thing you’d see if you followed the link. But hey, you all are happy with it, great. I’m not. This is the pit, where I get to bitch, so I did. stoid ps: as far as kids hanging out reading these forums, I doubt it. And if they do, they are certainly intelligent/savvy enough to find offensive things without our help…the Straight Dope isn’t going to be some horrifying revelation to their innocent little brains, believe me. Besides which, that is a whole other beef of mine: that the whole world, and most particularly the Internet, should be structured and designed with the idea that kids could see it. Bull. Let parents control what their children do, on the net as they do or should in the real world, and leave the adults to their adult pursuits. Back to your regularly scheduled posting… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-swith-all-the-moderating-bah/35035.md?page=2)