Moderators don't have time to babysit/referee childish/sophomoric personal disputes in this thread.
As far as death threats are concerned, the use of "drop dead" as a figure of speech is an interesting point of discussion.
It is not dissimilar, if somewhat sanitized version, to phrases such as "go to hell" or "fuck you". Is it literally wishing death on someone anymore than "go to hell" is wishing eternal pain and suffering? Or "fuck you" is wishing sexual violence upon someone else?
Where do moderators draw the line? Actual threats? Wishful threats? Hypothetical threats? Or figures of speech like the aforementioned?
It is a slippery slope.
And one thing I've learned from 25 years of forum moderation is that everyone is eager to apply the rules to people they dislike or want to censor. But when it comes to the fair and equal application of the rules to their own behavior, they become outraged, and feel unjustly censored.
As far as I'm concerned, the bigger issue is that so many members feel selfishly entitled to shit all over this forum with off-topic, childish, personal disputes that interfere with the intended harm reductions objectives of the forum and ruins the forum experience for everyone else.
My recommendations:
1) Don't do it.
2) Do it in private.
3) Do it in an off-topic thread.
As far as death threats are concerned, the use of "drop dead" as a figure of speech is an interesting point of discussion.
It is not dissimilar, if somewhat sanitized version, to phrases such as "go to hell" or "fuck you". Is it literally wishing death on someone anymore than "go to hell" is wishing eternal pain and suffering? Or "fuck you" is wishing sexual violence upon someone else?
Where do moderators draw the line? Actual threats? Wishful threats? Hypothetical threats? Or figures of speech like the aforementioned?
It is a slippery slope.
And one thing I've learned from 25 years of forum moderation is that everyone is eager to apply the rules to people they dislike or want to censor. But when it comes to the fair and equal application of the rules to their own behavior, they become outraged, and feel unjustly censored.
As far as I'm concerned, the bigger issue is that so many members feel selfishly entitled to shit all over this forum with off-topic, childish, personal disputes that interfere with the intended harm reductions objectives of the forum and ruins the forum experience for everyone else.
My recommendations:
1) Don't do it.
2) Do it in private.
3) Do it in an off-topic thread.
