What exactly constitutes "personal abuse"?

Gandalf23

I have been wondering about the term "personal abuse". What exactly does this mean?

I know I would be banned if I called someone a cunt ... rightly so. But what if I referred to a poster in a thread as a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox"?

Just curious.

muffler

Ah fuck off gandy

Gandalf23

muffler wrote: »

Ah fuck off gandy

Not sure if you are trying to be funny or something, but reported for being personal abuse anyway

Nerin

Calling a poster such names is personal abuse. There is a line though,if youre friendly with a poster and thats how ye act,some people ignore it.
Can be a bit confusing.

Never go into the thunderdone gandalf

Gandalf23

Nerin wrote: »

Calling a poster such names is personal abuse. There is a line though,if youre friendly with a poster and thats how ye act,some people ignore it.
Can be a bit confusing.

Never go into the thunderdone gandalf

Thanks man ... appreciate the answer.

So would you personally ban someone for the names in my OP? Would this be a general boards.ie rule or do individual mods have wriggle room on this?

I'd love to hear other mods/smods opinions on this.

muffler

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Not sure if you are trying to be funny or something, but reported for being personal abuse anyway

Thats the last time Im answering one of your questions

Zaph

Personally I'd ban someone for calling another poster a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox". The intent to abuse is there and they're just spelling the word like that to get around the swear filter. Obviously if I knew they were friends, or if the tone of the post was humorous it would be different.

Nerin

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Thanks man ... appreciate the answer.

So would you personally ban someone for the names in my OP? Would this be a general boards.ie rule or do individual mods have wriggle room on this?

I'd love to hear other mods/smods opinions on this.

Think theres wiggle room.
Personally,if people reported it and it was just some friends shooting the breeze,i'd ask em just to tone it down. I wouldn't mind it personally though.

Serious personal abuse is really not on though,attack the post not the poster.

Gandalf23

So if the intent is to abuse and it's not a jokey thread between friends its bannable? And you as a mod have very little wriggle room?

Other mods/smods/cmods opinions please.

oscarBravo

Gandalf23 wrote: »

So if the intent is to abuse and it's not a jokey thread between friends its bannable? And you as a mod have very little wriggle room?

Other mods/smods/cmods opinions please.

If the intent is to abuse it's bannable.

I'm curious why you're asking.

Bob the Builder

If's it intended to hurt someone's feelings.

Zaph

Gandalf23 wrote: »

So if the intent is to abuse and it's not a jokey thread between friends its bannable? And you as a mod have very little wriggle room?

It's not a case of having or not having wiggle room. When moderating you make a judgement call based on what you see in front of you. If you decide to ban someone for personal abuse you should be able to properly support that decision in any subsequent Feedback or Helpdesk thread.

Bob the Builder

Zaph wrote: »

It's not a case of having or not having wiggle room. When moderating you make a judgement call based on what you see in front of you. If you decide to ban someone for personal abuse you should be able to properly support that decision in any subsequent Feedback or Helpdesk thread.

Sounds about right. Different cases need different consequences.

Gandalf23

oscarBravo wrote: »

If the intent is to abuse it's bannable.

So would you consider post #2 above by muffler to be bannable?

RoundyMooney

Gandalf23 wrote: »

So would you consider post #2 above by muffler to be bannable?

He didn't intend to abuse though, did he?

Very simply;

"You're a muppet"=abusage.

"You're acting like a muppet"=non-abuse, in most cases anyway, contextually speaking.

There's no hard and fast however, and tearing someone apart without falling foul of a personal abuse guideline is a skill in itself.

Some manage it, and some don't, and escaping without punishment is by no means a measure of success.

Gandalf23

OK cool. Thanks for all the answers/opinions.

I'd like to hear from a few more mods on this. I'd also really appreciate some smod input on my original question ... i.e. would it be personal abuse if I referred to a poster in a thread as a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox" and my intention was to abuse that person and "hurt their feelings"?

Steve

Zaph wrote: »

Personally The intent to abuse is there

Nain on head but it can be a tough call between banter and abuse.
Thankfully most muppets make it obvious.

Gandalf23 wrote: »

So would you consider post #2 above by muffler to be bannable?

If you can't tell a joke and / or take it then maybe it's time to stop interacting with the internet and go watch a period drama. No offence but people shouldn't really take it too seriously.

Gandalf23

SteveC wrote: »

If you can't tell a joke and / or take it then maybe it's time to stop interacting with the internet and go watch a period drama. No offence but people shouldn't really take it too seriously.

This is the problem with identifying personal abuse. I dont know if muffler was joking ... no problem if he was, and I dont take anything personally (especially on the interweb).

But you have to admit that people have been banned for a lot less, and the constant mantra from most mods is that "personal abuse is bannable" and "use the report button if you see personal abuse".

To be honest Steve, I'm surprised that you seem to be saying that telling someone to "fuck off" directly in a thread is only a joke. I've seen you argue differently both in feedback and in prison and support bannings for a lot less than that ... ;);)

EDIT ... you'll be supporting this guy next and telling us there is no personal abuse in his post ...

oscarBravo

I still get the feeling this is going somewhere specific.

Why keep us in suspense?

Gandalf23

oscarBravo wrote: »

I still get the feeling this is going somewhere specific.

Why keep us in suspense?

Lets get a few more opinions first ... its a very simple question.

I'd like to hear from a few more mods on this. I'd also really appreciate some smod input on my original question ... i.e. would it be personal abuse if I referred to a poster in a thread as a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox" and my intention was to abuse that person and "hurt their feelings"?

Steve

It was a pretty obvious to me that Mufflers post was a joke, but I guess thought should be given when making such a joke about the recipient's likelihood to take offence.

There are plenty of users here that I feel I could say the same to and I pretty much know they'd know it was just a joke, but again it boils down to circumstances and intent.
I don't think Mufflers intent was for you to actually 'fuck off' in the abusive sense. The fact that he addressed you as 'gandy' surely highlighted this?

You are correct that when I see what I believe is genuine personal abuse that hasn't been actioned then I will report or pm a mod and highlight it.
As for my prison posts, I think long an hard before deciding that one of the tards is worthy of engaging.

Steve

Gandalf23 wrote: »

i.e. would it be personal abuse if I referred to a poster in a thread as a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox" and my intention was to abuse that person and "hurt their feelings"?

I'm can't speak for any of the mods/smods/admins but experience has shown that they take it very seriously regardless of how it's spelt.

Nerin

oscarBravo wrote: »

I still get the feeling this is going somewhere specific.

Why keep us in suspense?

I'm confused. Its becoming a bit silly now.

oscarBravo

I get the distinct impression the OP is looking to hoard ammo for some cause or other. It's a bit tedious, tbh.

Jules

Agreed.. needs to get the point across before people lose interest. Think all mods would think the same. It is all in what way it is intended.

javaboy

oscarBravo wrote: »

I still get the feeling this is going somewhere specific.

Me too. OP you know the answer. If someone calls you a boll0x and it's not in a friendly context, they're likely to get reprimanded especially if you report it. The spelling is not important. Everyone can see boll0x=bollox=bollocks.

It doesn't have to be a swear word to be abuse anyway. Calling someone a "waste of space" could be abuse too. Where is this thread going?

Bob the Builder

Gandalf23 wrote: »

EDIT ... you'll be supporting this guy next and telling us there is no personal abuse in his post ...

haha, yah, I'd love to see the poker mods with no NEEEEEEEEEEEEECAPS!!!!!!1111!!!!!!!!!

I thought the definition of personal abuse was a gray area - but one that is completely clear. Whilst it's definitions are clear, each case be judged by a mod.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Zaph wrote: »

Personally I'd ban someone for calling another poster a "cnnt" or a "pr1ck" or a "b0llox". The intent to abuse is there and they're just spelling the word like that to get around the swear filter. Obviously if I knew they were friends, or if the tone of the post was humorous it would be different.

What if you inferred the tone of a post as abusive or inflammatory but the made was made in jest ? Surely personal abuse should be more explicit than just "ah would ye ever blow off".

*was banned for a week from a forum for asking a poster if he was taking the piss.*

Crash

Thats it, i'm now bored. OP fails at actually making any point whatsoever, cus he's a cuntnugget.

Zaph

This thread is going in one of two directions imo:

1. Gandalf wants to abuse the fcuk out of someone and wants to know how far he can push it without getting banned; or

2. Someone called Gandalf a cnut, etc., and wasn't reprimanded/banned and he wants to start a Helpdesk thread about inconsistent modding.

At this stage Gandalf you have had more than enough replies, moderators are fairly consistent here and the vast majority would see alternate spellings of those words as abuse. An SMod isn't going to tell you much different from what you've already been told, so I think you should just get on with it.

muffler

2 points Im going to make before the lock and thats where this thread is going.

First of all the OP asked "what exactly constitutes personal abuse". I give him an answer. Simple as that. And just to clarify the answer was meant as an answer/joke. There was no personal abuse intended.

Secondly, like others have stated, I have strong reservations as to why this questioned was asked in the first instance particularly the repeated demand for replies from mods and Smods. I have this mad, mad notion in my head that the answers given will be thrown right back in our faces again in the not so distant future.

So now gandy - go shag a sheep. Am I joking? Are you serious? Who knows.