to the niceness wagon, I don't think it is; while the term "mental masturbation" might be a bit much, I think she raises a valid point. =A= is a bit condescending very often. If anything, you might want to flag him for general stick-up-butt. I take it with a grain of salt, but I think Fer isn't out of bounds to bring up the issue.
(Pardon the continuance of game-puns.)