" Only step in when the insults have gone past the point of single angry incident. "

Ah Jack.... if only... Would YOU like to moderate the vote over when that stage is reached? *wry grin*

I once remarked on threads that WERE 'edited' carefully, whereupon an even more acrimonious argument ensued over who was being 'favored', with some demanding to know what had been deleted/edited! The history of the infamous 'Shambles' was interminable meta-debates over the very concept of editing/censorship. It began on one topic, then achieved a life of its own.

There IS still some moderate editing... I saw one reference a couple of weeks ago, but no one has the time, much less the stamina, to follow & ride herd on their fellow members. It has been my observation that being edited/deleted invites more rancor, instead of being a useful lesson.
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Musket: "Separated by a common language" indeed! It is quite true that the game of winding people up is not nearly as common over here....and in an online forum, it is MUCH harder to 'read' the tone and meaning. (You may notice that my posts are often peppered with HTML trick and capitals and punctuation designed to 'sound' as close as possible to conversation so as NOT to have my points misconstrued.

(I once... a number of years ago, exchenged PMs with a male from the UK who was making what seemed like very disparaging remarks about a female from the UK. I said, "hey... that ain't nice" and HE said "Oh, we know each other and tease like that all the time...even in person". I replied that, "Yeah...but you are doing it in plain view of hundreds of people who do NOT know either of you!" He got the point and desisted.
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In 10-15 years, we humans have not developed a lot of rules for this semi-anonymous form of interplay. In real life we can walk away, whack the offender, ask for clarification and maybe resolve the entire thing in a few minutes. Here, the offending exchanges (even gentler ones) last for weeks or longer and linger in thread for years to confuse those who stumble on them by accident.

My rule:"If in doubt, use caution & restraint!" It IS possible to use humor and be clever without "playing the dozens"