Banned "Members"

[rusty pins]

Just a thought and perhaps the Admins can weigh in here.

[Elfy]

I think this was brought up before.

People get banned here a lot. Most of them never make a post or they sign up, one hour later we find out about something and they are banned already, every admin action is posted about in the admin forum so people can rest assured no one can rogue ban people and if a different admin disagrees with a decision they can state their case.

I think the problem with a thread showing who was banned and why would invite people to start talking about the bans and the banned members which could lead to bad places, it is also rather like airing your dirty laundry out in public. If someone is banned and they don't know why they can contact one of the admins. If a friend of someone who is banned wants to know why then they can contact one of the admins. The reasons for people being banned are 9/10 very mundane... They are a troll, underage or multiple account user.

People just have to use there senses. If they are talking to someone off-site and they find out they were banned from here they have to think about why that might be, and if they are concerned about who they are talking to they should break off contact or ask an admin about what happened.

There is also the problem that people often get second chances here. To list them as being banned publicly and then giving a second chance would be unfair on the person looking for the second chance.

[Bettypooh]

While we aren't hiding anything because of not wanting anyone to know about what we're doing, it is not useful for anyone to know why someone was banned- only that it happened. It is part of our respecting people's privacy, even when they're banned. There's a lot that goes on without the general membership knowing about it and it would do no good to publicize that so we don't.

Our goal here is to stay legal and keep the peace, that's all, and anything that you might really need to know will be made known. We're not going to withhold anything which may cause you grief, but once you're off this site you're on your own and beyond our ability to help you with. As always, be careful- it's a jungle out there!

Bettypooh

[DailyDi]

The main reason "I" dont like to discuss bans is that it often leads to pouring gas on a fire with the banned member feeling the need to re-register and defend themselves, or bad mouth us on other sites. It is almost always best to just quietly remove someone from the site, unless a safety concern requires us to explain and warn.

Now if it's a major member of the community - like when I eventually ban Bettypooh for eating all the cookies in the admin lounge room - we may make an exception to address community concerns, but when it's a new member or person with little activity there's really no upside to it.

[AwakenEvil]

Hey if I pay 10.00 can I have the banned member for my badge?????@DailyDi

[Bettypooh]

You wouldn't dare! Besides I dunno who ate all the cookies but it wasn't me, honest! (and please don't check how much milk I left there)

Bettypooh

[AwakenEvil]

I seen Betty do it!

[Bettypooh]

Ooooh you tattle-tale, I'm gonna get you for that!

I'm going to tell DD about you're eating his slice of cake last week so there!

[DailyDi]

My cake!?

[AwakenEvil]

Cakeeee

[Bettypooh]

Giggles

Bettypooh

[WetDad]

Banned member badge? Can I get a Wet

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Just think of what could happen if a gossip columnist in training and starting young; VERY young, could get her hands on that list and the why's: Expiring minds want to know. Can you just imagine it "How come that sweet and adorable Rachel Elimy, who everyone just loves to pieces grrrr, got a warning point? Is there a dark side that we do not see that often: like maybe a Little Boy hiding deep down? :)" Catty Cathy: THE DIRTY DIAPER. the possibilities are endless

[Demon-hunter]

all i heard there was cake and cookies in the admin lounge.

but all i can do is look through the window......lol

yea i have to say you admins are quick at the draw, keep it up!

[Dubious]

Yep, its like watching the babies through the glass window at the hospital

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

Having been a staff member on other sites many years ago, I can tell you my take on why it's normally not a good idea to publicize bannings. One site I was involved with kept them quiet, if a member PMed one of us on staff about a specific member, we'd usually tell them what happened and ask them to keep it to themselves. Occasionally if it was someone who was really high profile we'd publicize the banning just so to avoid a deluge of messages. On another site all bans were publicized and as Mikey has said, it's like pouring gas on a fire. It becomes very much a clique, people badmouth the site, or reregister and try to do more damage, and it changes the overall site tone from positive to extremely negative very quickly in my experience, which is why I'd likely argue against it in the future.

One other site I frequent generally doesn't say why someone was banned unless a member asks, in which case the staff may occasionally mention the reason, especially if the member making the inquiry was involved in a discussion with the banned member, but for everyone else life just goes on as usual. One of the few exceptions was when a staff member self-destructed, and the staff made it very public, but that was to prove the point that the staff isn't above the rules, and to serve as a warning to other staff members and avoid a barrage of messages from people who missed the way this member came apart. I should also note that under previous management, this same site did publicize bans, and it got to the point where they were almost glorified so people wound up trying to get temporary bans just to be part of the "clique." The clique mentality went away along with the public bans when the site changed staff members, and the end result was a huge improvement. While I admit I'm sometimes curious why a certain member was banned, I usually don't ask because I tend to trust the staff unless a lot of respected people tend to drop like flies, in which case there's usually more to it than a member just "acting out" and being reprimanded for it with some sort of ban.

Mikey and the rest of the staff here handle this correctly in my eyes, and I applaud them for that. Having sat in a similar position before, I understand and agree with their reasoning.

[willnotwill]

Nope, we don't discuss banned members on my site either.

[rusty pins]

Thanks for all the replys.

[Crinklebritches]

Cookies and Cake?

[AwakenEvil]

Try the pot brownies

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Better yet, try the peas porridge