Banned for life....what's your story?

[Johnny Vinyl]

I've never been banned but have had to ban a few people. It's never an easy thing. What all these folks had in common was a negative pattern of behavior. It was never because of differences in opinion and especially was never due to solitary incidents.

Bingo!

 

[NorthStar]

The banning of a member from a forum can only be as intelligent as its moderators are...

* Banning members who deserve it is right. But any person deserves chances at rehabilitation!
Banning members for life and who don't truly deserve it is wrong. And justice should preserve at the end!

There are few moderators from many forums who should be exposed to the same rules as the members, but who are not!

I'm sure you guys all know some of them; but justice never prevails! Much like in real life!

If you play a game you might is well play it right! ...By making it fun for everyone...

The main problem with our society is ignorance, true rehabilitation, education, and hiding!

 

[beek]

I have been banned from the girl scouts, for eating brownies...............

 

[amirm]

I have been banned from the girl scouts, for eating brownies...............

"Now, that right there is funny!"

 

[RBFC]

I have been banned from the girl scouts, for eating brownies...............

Did you earn your merit badge though?

Lee

 

[beek]

"Now, that right there is funny!"

Just an old joke applied in a new neighborhood

 

[NorthStar]

I have been banned from the girl scouts, for eating brownies...............

Touche! Lol

 

[beek]

Did you earn your merit badge though?

Lee

Not yet

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I've been banned once by association, when I posted in support of someone who had criticized a couple of the advertisers on a site that was rapidly evolving into a commercial endeavor, and once on a fire-breathing subjectivist site that only the few, the proud, the completely insane among us would hang at. I probably deserved it, because I knew merely expressing my opinion there was enraging one of the owners of the site whenever he skipped his meds, and yet I persevered.

Tim

 

[NorthStar]

See Steve, after all, this thread started by Dave ain't so bad.
To the contrary, it is a very positive one in my humble opinion.
No names' enumeration here, we can skip those no problemo.

And Steve, I bet that even you, feel good to let things go...
After all, it wasn't truly our fault if we were banned in the first place.
Just like people who feel guilty because they were abused when they were children.
And when they finally talked about it, it liberates them.

* I know quite a few people who were banned before from one forum or another, and I learned more from them than the rest.
Some of my best friends are the people who got banned.

 

[DaveyF]

See Steve, after all, this thread started by Dave ain't so bad.
To the contrary, it is a very positive one in my humble opinion.
No names' enumeration here, we can skip those no problemo.

And Steve, I bet that even you, feel good to let things go...
After all, it wasn't truly our fault if we were banned in the first place.
Just like people who feel guilty because they were abused when they were children.
And when they finally talked about it, it liberates them.

* I know quite a few people who were banned before from one forum or another, and I learned more from them than the rest.
Some of my best friends are the people who got banned.

Ummm, actually I think that Lee and Steve were correct in their concern for this thread

It initially started out as a potential for 'bashing' other forum (fori..is that a word? ) and could have easily degraded into a mud slinging contest. This was NOT what I had in mind originally and thanks to the moderators we were able to avoid that.

To get back to the point, it is still a question in my mind as to why some of the moderators on other forum believe that it is ok to stifle one's freedom of speech when it comes to something that they do not believe in, or cannot get comfortable with. (No, I am not talking about the obvious mud slinging posts or other inflammatory posts/insults that are easily thrown around). As an example of my thinking, I would ask the moderators in Amir's example- as to why they banned him, when it was most likely that he would be contributing greatly to their knowledge base.....Unless of course they would prefer to remain in the dark and be comfortable with their biases. ( which is most likely what occurred in both of our experiences!). As they say..."Ignorance is bliss"

 

[JackD201]

As a Global Moderator in another forum, the exact thing as a Super Moderator here (Lee, Ron, Tim), our team takes moderation literally. We don't want to be the Secret Police but we don't want to be eating donuts at the 711 on duty either.

In my 6 years as a moderator the strangest thing is how some guys can be real sweethearts in person but can be uncourteous, uncouth and downright @$$holes once they have the protection of anonymity. I've actually had to ban one guy who was really a friend! Like I said it isn't an easy job. It isn't like you get any benefits from it either!

The payback is that if the administrators and moderators do their jobs well, an environment that fosters intelligent or even just entertaining exchanges can come about. What is the use of a forum if everybody agrees with everybody else? Like any party however, NOBODY has to have to endure the dude that wrecks the vibe. It isn't hard to agreeably disagree. Some guys just refuse to make that tiny effort to simply act decently.

Would you have such a person in your home? Even when that person is family it's difficult. So this begs the question. If you don't like a place or the people in it, why go there at all? One does not walk into a slum wearing a Rolex expecting not to get mugged because the Constitution guarantees him the right to property.

 

[fas42]

I've actually had to ban one guy who was really a friend!

And you're still great mates ...??

Frank

 

[JackD201]

Actually, yes we are!

 

[garylkoh]

My wife would like to ban me from this forum....

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

To get back to the point, it is still a question in my mind as to why some of the moderators on other forum believe that it is ok to stifle one's freedom of speech when it comes to something that they do not believe in, or cannot get comfortable with

The reasons are as variable as the forums and the mods. The forum may want to appeal to a very specific kind of audiophile, and allowing someone to repetedly post a conflicting point of view is considered inconsistent with the forum's goals. The mods/forum operators may be entrenched in their own beliefs and not even want to hear/consider alternatives. The poster in question, while he may think he's just exercising his God-given right to freedom of speech may just be posting the same meaningless stuff over and over again accomplishing nothing more than lowering the signal-to-noise ratio of the board. It doesn't have to be offensive to be detrimental.

As a fairly new mod, I can tell you that you have a team here that doesn't want to ban anyone but spammers (and they are rapid and ruthless with them). The trigger finger here is very, very slow here. And that's a very good thing, in my view.

Tim

 

[MiTT]

I'm a moderator on another forum and while I have banned a few folks it's never because they have expressed a contrary opinion. I can honestly say that I've only banned spammers, folks who have posted racist or sexist remarks or have threatened another member (hard to believe I know but I've seen it twice). On this other forum we have had some very heated debates, but for the most part I and my fellow moderators tend to step back and let things play out. Most people seem to be able to self moderate for the most part, and those that can't are usually reigned back in by a well worded PM rather than any public denunciation.

 

[NorthStar]

You have mods banning people who in fact are banning all their members from informative access.

Remember this folks; each time you ban someone, it is in fact a judgement made against yourself as a mod.
And your own interpretation is only valid as the merit of your judgement.
Are you ready to make that call?

* Some people are in jail for the rest of their life, and they are totally innocent!
Some people were electrocuted on the electric chair, just because someone made a false judgement!

 

[NorthStar]

As a Global Moderator in another forum, the exact thing as a Super Moderator here (Lee, Ron, Tim), our team takes moderation literally. We don't want to be the Secret Police but we don't want to be eating donuts at the 711 on duty either.

In my 6 years as a moderator the strangest thing is how some guys can be real sweethearts in person but can be uncourteous, uncouth and downright @$$holes once they have the protection of anonymity. I've actually had to ban one guy who was really a friend! Like I said it isn't an easy job. It isn't like you get any benefits from it either!

The payback is that if the administrators and moderators do their jobs well, an environment that fosters intelligent or even just entertaining exchanges can come about. What is the use of a forum if everybody agrees with everybody else? Like any party however, NOBODY has to have to endure the dude that wrecks the vibe. It isn't hard to agreeably disagree. Some guys just refuse to make that tiny effort to simply act decently.

Would you have such a person in your home? Even when that person is family it's difficult. So this begs the question. If you don't like a place or the people in it, why go there at all? One does not walk into a slum wearing a Rolex expecting not to get mugged because the Constitution guarantees him the right to property.

Nice post Jack.

If I may.

Some people are more apt than others at doing their duties; cops, judges, lawyers, politicians, stock brokers, bankers, etc.

In real life, or on the Internet, we only know as far as our own vision.
When we make a judgement call, it is always directly related to our own education, our own self-appreciation, period!
Banning others is banning ourselves first if we truly want to be good at it!

I believe that you guys don't need further explanation from my above comments as I know that you are smart enough to extract the truth...

I don't wanna be a mod, eva! But in true fact I am one! Not from an official title, but from a true and honest one, my soul. Yes sir, I self-moderate myself and my friends as well, and nobody knows my name...
{Well, Bob. -()._ }

Do you guys know what I'm sayin' here... Do you see the real power in it...

Yes, me too I've been banned and wrongly judged, but I don't have any grudge.
I understand human's behavior and interactivity...
I understand human's misinterpretations and emotions.
I understand human's conventions and misconceptions.
I understand human's condemnation and perception.
I understand human's traumatizations and demons.

I know about human's nature and predisposition.

 

[amirm]

You have mods banning people who in fact are banning all their members from informative access.

Remember this folks; each time you ban someone, it is in fact a judgement made against yourself as a mod.

That's right. But that works both ways Bob. If we ban a racist -- as we had to do here although the person resigned on their own before our action -- I call that a good reflection.

If we enforce the rules that we ask everyone to abide by, again, this reflects positively that we hold the same standard, friend or foe.

Your high level point though is well taken. Banning someone is a serious decision and has impact not only on the person being banned, but everyone else looking. Invariably the person being banned has friends who think he is just fine and take a dim view of such action. So the best defense against being banned, is to make sure you have a ton of friends like this. And to have a ton of friends, means being cordial, and friendly with your fellow hobbyists who are in here for *enjoyment.* This is not a political party. Nor anything of matter of life and death.