about banned members - Page 2

[Cynthia Mosher]

Starr, I guess the best I can offer you or anyone else with a concern such as yours is to say you can PM me to ask about the member if you are not able to contact her/him through the board PM or Email features.

Banned displays under their names if a moderator places them on temporary ban until I can address the issue they are involved in. I can change that so there is no confusion.

mamajama, yes, contact to discuss a ban and request reinstatement should be done by email. Every page of the boards has a Contact Us link at the bottom.

Ruthla, I think I already answered your question in my first reply. The Banned title will only appear if a moderator temporarily bans a member until I can look at the issue and make a decision on how to handle it. That's a default title that overrides the usual title.


There si a difference in being suspended and banned. A suspension is for a period of time. A ban is indefinite, possibly permanent. But I have reinstated banned members who have returned to acknowledge the inappropriate behavior that led to their ban and agreed to adhere to the UA.

Would someone be banned if they told everyone why they were suspended or warned?

All depends on the situation and the reason it seems they are wanting to convey such information to the community. For example, if it's a protest sort of thing to take issue with the admin/mod actions then it will result in another warning. And if that person already has two warnings on her record that would make a third and result in a suspension, or a ban if she has been previously suspended.

But if the intent is sincere, say, to help another member avoid creating an issue in a thread - "I think you should avoid posting in this manner as you could get a warning. I've been warned in the past for doing so" then no. We'd not usually warn or ban someone over that. But I think it's pretty easy to tell the difference in someone is trying to by snarky and stir drama and create negativity in a thread about MDC moderation and when they are sincere and wanting to avoid problems.

tracymom, if she can't access the boards at all then her IP is banned. I will ban an IP number if I find the person is posting under another person's account or is registering and posting under a new account to get around the ban or suspension of her account. I'll do the same if I come to find that a member is participating in cross board posting issues, copying and pasting discussions from here to another forum to encourage another community to to come here to criticize, troll, etc.

[tracymom]

Originally Posted by Cynthia Mosher

tracymom, if she can't access the boards at all then her IP is banned. I will ban an IP number if I find the person is posting under another person's account or is registering and posting under a new account to get around the ban or suspension of her account. I'll do the same if I come to find that a member is participating in cross board posting issues, copying and pasting discussions from here to another forum to encourage another community to to come here to criticize, troll, etc.

Ah, okay. I guess where my confusion has been is that people seemed to "disappear," then sometimes later I found they said they were banned, but no "banned" appeared under their name so I was But you clarified that in another place in your post, so that helps. Thank you for responding!

[UrbanPlanter]

so, if a person is banned, and it says so under their name, and then you review their banning and remove the "banned" label, but they are still banned... this is really confusing. Why not just leave the "banned" label under all the usernames who are banned as long as they are banned?

I think it's strange if a person is banned but there is no indication of the banning in their username or profile.

ETA: if the IP number is blocked, is the user allowed to log in to MDC under her original username at a different IP station?

[Mynn]

One option might also be to post what can be mentioned w/o violating policy. A board I'd read for a while did that in their version of Q/S:

"So and So has been banned"

<I>So and So has been banned for repeatedly posting and retracting inflammatory threads after being warned mulitple times for doing so.</i>

The community was much improved by that policy.

[zipperump-a-zoomum]

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I'm so glad this thread is here so that I can get this out.

I am so very saddened by the bannings. I've been on MDC since 2001, and I don't think that it is an exaggeration to say that this place changed the way I look at the world, and has had a huge impact on the way I parent. I've learned so much both from reading the wise words of other mothers and from thinking through my own disagreements with the ideas presented.

But as the time has passed, so many of those posters I admired, and those I vehemently disagreed with but learned much from, have left through bannings, or because of the atmosphere of bannings. And as such, I feel that the enormous potential of this place has been compromised.

I haven't always agreed with the message or the tone of posters whose ideas are seen often as radical, or extreme. However, the opportunity to discuss and interact with people who provoke thought was really priceless. The nature of the discussions here, the heated debate and the more rational and philosophical, helped me to embrace the examined life. I am a more thoughtful, reflective parent because of the time I've been here.

However, I am so deeply saddened when voices such as those of veganmama, and girlndocs, and willowsmom, are no longer here to stir ideas, to encourage the examined life, to agree with in some instances and react against in others. I miss the radical TCSers; I miss the posts of the deeply knowledgeable in vaccinations. I miss the rabid political discussions, some of which infuriated me. I miss the people who challenged my own ignorance of privilege and issues of class and race, while taking a wee bit of pride in trying to take up that mantle myself.

I understand the dilemma of a place like this. How do you encourage thought, and discussion, and the free and fair exchange of ideas, without bruising feelings and egos? How do you allow dissent and argument, heated and passionate dialogue, without giving reign to chaos? I get that dilemma, but the conclusions I reach about the balance between chaos and censorship are different from the ideas I see in action here.

I'd really, really like to encourage a more open community: one that allows for dissent, and allows more self-policing by the members of the community. I'd love to see that, because I feel strongly that the opportunities for growth and self-examination are limited exponentially when any community becomes more closed and rigid. The examined life is not possible when there are not extremes to react against, from both sides of any issue.

I can't continue to participate here, in light of the changes that I see. I just don't want to be complicit in something that feels like controlled expression. I'd like to request that my posts be deleted, and my user name and password removed from the site.

I really struggled with this decision; I've been angry, but mostly I just feel sad. Thank you for Mothering, for all that this place has meant to me in the past, for the tremendous opportunities to grow into the mother I want to become. I really hope that there can be some change to reverse the trends that have led me to this decision.

Much love, and light, and peace to all.
Kaly

[member]

:

[delicious]

that's really sad.

yet another valuable member of the community.

[lotusdebi]

Every day, there are fewer and fewer reasons to stick around.

My heart has broken so many times, as my friends have left - or been shown the door.

It is truly a depressing series of events that has brought us to this point.
I wish more people could see things as clearly as Kaly does.

[Cynthia Mosher]

We don't place the Banned title. It appears by default when a mod bans a member.
IP numbers may be banned but it's not a reliable method to block someone. They can easily access through another IP number.

MDC general UA and board policy enforcement has not changed since 2001. It is all outlined in the Rules page. What has changed is that we have grown considerably and with growth comes issues, members that don't like some of the rules and guidelines and who refuse to adhere to them. That will result in their removal.

If that is not acceptable to you (general 'you') then we welcome your decision to find another community that is more in line with your expectations. As we state clearly in the UA:

"By registering to become a member of our community, you agree to abide by the policies herein. If you cannot agree with these terms, we wish you well in finding another online community that better meets your personal needs and desires."

Allowing a "valuable community member" to ignore our rules and warnings, deliberately violate them, and repeatedly do so, is not reasonable. Everyone is required to observe the same rules. If you have an issue with that then MDC is definitely not the place for you.

I have stated repeatedly that we will not host discussion of the banning of members. To do so in all fairness, presenting the full story, would necessitate an explanation of their behaviors both here on the boards and in private communication as well as the alerts and warnings that were issued them prior to their banning. That would be against our policy of respecting member privacy and not conveying private communications and issues. Perhaps for some communities it is an acceptable practice to do so but it is not here.

Any further questions about this issue can be PMed or emailed to me.