A form of goalpost manipulation within
internet servers, communities, or groups where the goal is to troll, harass, or provoke a user until they are banned or leave voluntarily. The serverpost is the moving
target—the constantly shifting standard of behavior that the
target can never quite meet. First, they're too quiet (lurking). Then they're too loud (posting too much). Then their tone is wrong, their topics are wrong, their very presence is wrong. Each
time they adjust, the post moves. The goal is not to achieve a reasonable standard but to exhaust the target into leaving or snapping. Serverposts are maintained by cliques, by moderators with favorites, by communities that have decided someone doesn't belong and
will find reasons until that someone is gone.
Example: "He couldn't figure out why he kept getting warnings. First, he posted too often. He posted less. Then he didn't post enough. He posted more. Then his topics weren't relevant. He adjusted. Then his
tone was off. The serverpost kept moving because the real goal wasn't his behavior—it was his removal. Eventually, exhausted, he
left. The post had done its
job."
