Dearest moderators,

Of course not. But it's also a matter of context. I've been on boards where even a whiff of off-topic gets your post striken and some form of punishment meted. I never stay long at those places, but I'm sure there's a community that appreciates that narrow focus.

I'm not a moderator because I'd suck at it and have no desire to work for free just to regulate posters' temper-tantrums (I moderate comments occasionally on our paper's website, and that's plenty draining enough, and that's actually part of a paying job). I doubt that the "no politics" edict is arbitrary.

 

Then why can't we get some transparency at least? If you're creating boundaries, it helps to mark them clearly.

 

Explain what "going South" means and why it would necessitate a thread being locked or deleted.

 

Personal attacks, attempted and accomplished outing, for starters. I have pretty thick skin, so I'm not especially troubled by it, but that's the sort of thing that reflects poorly on what I presume is intended to be a website for professionals. "At least it's not 4chan bad" isn't much of a standard in that context.

I don't like deleting 80 percent of the comments on my paper's site, but that's only because they don't offend my personal tastes. But it's not about me.

 

The only particularly reprehensible action here is outing, and to my knowledge that hasn't been an issue in a while. I'm all for lifetime bans for that.

 

Second dat. It would be a Crimea to ban anyone for anything else.

 

If you are unwilling to kick the kids out of the classroom for threatening to out, trying to out, making threats and other general contemptible behavior because of how you play with a toy, the only thing left to do is take the toy away.

 

I never understood why political discussions bother members who have no interest in them. The 3 most
popular topic categories-- Sports and News, Anything Goes and Journalism each have 25 topics on
first page along. The political topics are clear. If you don't want to get involved why click on them?
Would also add that if your highly sensitive you should not click on them either.

 

Stick to wishing death on the world's entire homosexual population and you'll be sound as a pound.

 

While we're all here, I mostly chose to play a character on this site ... a f'kin character.
I am saddened I need to spell that out.
Still, if you have bones to pick with FART, send me your phone number and we'll talk.
NO BULLSHIT OVER THE PMs.
I have made nice with a few of my former nemeses.
Maybe we'll even walk away friends! That is how life is.
But if you hate FART, please, get over yourselves.

 

Not sure why you would choose to play a character that many people don't seem to like. But if that's what entertains FART, more power to FART.

 

I'm a 3_Octave_Fart fan.