Please note that I have no clue as to what the "baby-ish posts" were or who the posters were.Since this is a pretty decent thread, I'm going to delete the series of baby-ish posts with no on-topic content. Hopefully the two posters will continue their little pissy-fest via PM.
But in my opinion this is an example of moderation that is less than optimal. Here is what, in my opinion, would have constituted best practice moderation:
1. The moderation should lead by example. The moderation posting itself was really off topic. Moderation itself should comply with the rules it is enforcing.
A good analogy would be a police department that
(a) tolerates officers who regularly run red lights or who speed for no good reason, while
(b) regularly enforces law against running red lights.
BETTER PRACTICE:
Permit the thread to remain on topic and use PM to do the moderation.
2. The moderation should lead by example. The postings from the riff raff not infrequently include include, pejoration, name calling and "baby-ish" commentary. Moderation comments, even private ones, should contain none of this.
BETTER PRACTICE: The moderation messages, even in private messages, should use the same language that your boss would expect to you use if you were moderating a forum composed of valuable customers who sometime cross the line. I would expect that to exclude any pejoration, name calling and "baby-ish", even if that would be an apt description of the customer's postings.
3. Lead by example. Give the unwashed masses an example of what good manners are, as opposed to adopting and spreading their poor manners.
Does anyone think what I submit as good practice can have any downside? Will it adversely affect the standard of discourse on these forums or will it improve it?