Did you know that official warnings never expire? Damn right they’re serious.
So you take the natural log of the number of unofficial non-warnings that are stated as mod notes given to you in the past month and divide it by the first derivative of the linear regression that represents the best fit of the relationship of total official warnings handed out to all members in the month against Dio pittings and if that number ever exceeds the number of unofficial warnings handed out by non-members of the site to youtube posters then you have to sit in the penalty box for 8 days? I’m sorry, I still don’t get it.
You need to carry the cubit.
And you forgot to factor in leap years. Oh, and neap tides.
I’m BRAND NEW to this forum (note this post number will show as No. 1) – at least until I post something else somewhere else – and then you won’t be able to tell if this was 1, or 2, or whatever…
However, I’ve been active in quite a few forums through the years, and still am – mostly over at AVS. I’ve been quite lucky over there, considering a few of the “tightropes” I’ve walked, from time to time. I’ve gotten a few “friendly reminders,” and had some posts removed, edited, or moved to a different thread, from time to time (often with NO comment), but no “official warnings.”
Those of you who want to know the difference, are you just LOOKING for trouble??? Trust me. Every time I even get a HINT of a “friendly reminder” from someone who has the title “moderator” beside his or her name, I’m like, “Yes sir/m’am!,” and I KNOW it’s time to “watch my Ps and Qs” and try to make a mental note that whatever that particular infraction or boundary was is somewhere I DON’T want to venture again.
Most of us belong to these forums for free. Even if we subscribe (as I finally did at AVS), it’s not a lot of $$$. But whatever the case, we’re all in “a community” together, where there are certain rules. Those rules change from forum to forum (I once belonged to a forum that had a special section called “The Crocodile Pit” where “anything went,” so long as there were no nasty personal attacks… Well, there were some folks who just COULDN’T restrain themselves NASTY PERSONAL ATTACKS, and that section eventually got cut).
Now I expect that sort of behavior is pretty much grounds for at least a “note” in ANY forum. From what I’ve seen scanning this now sort of “old and dusty” thread, however (almost three months since the last post? Maybe I should have left it alone???), is some non-mods trying to split hairs to the point they seem to want to determine how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Certainly, all the political examples I saw cited above can cause strong emotions on various sides. Calliing Israel “the Zionist Entity” IMMEDIATELY identifies someone as being anti-Israel (or either sarcastic). Calling the President Barry Obama, however, could actually just be out of fondness, since he says that’s what he was called as a child. Addressing him by his full name isn’t a problem, per se, UNLESS the middle name is continually the only part in ALL CAPS, and it’s repeatedly done, in which case the intent is pretty OBVIOUS. And I used to call our last president “the shrub” all the time (and NO, that wasn’t a “term of endearment” from me, but others said much worse).
I think the trick is knowing how far to go, when to quit and where to draw the line. A good moderator will recognize someone who’s crossing lines almost every time, and know when to issue “friendly reminders” or outright warnings. Since I’m new here, I have no idea if you’re all a bunch of “good moderators,” or not (betting you’ll ALL be reading this, however, considering the thread it’s posted in ;)). My best bet, however, from reading your replies to this thread is that you all have pretty level heads on your shoulders (which is how most folks end up as moderators, to begin with). And since I’ve been looking for a forum with more chances to discuss general social and political topics, perhaps I’ve found one.
Jeff