How does one know when one is close to the razors edge of being banned? Do the mods generally send out private messages or emails, warning that a poster is walking on thin ice, or does the mod warnings in a given thread constitute the sole channel to inform a poster that they are about to be cut off? If so, how many such warnings are given before the mods take direct action…and what are the levels of action taken? Suspension followed by banning? Straight to banning? Is there a formula, or is it pretty much individually tailored to how much of an ass (or troll) a given poster is being?
I’ve seen posters come and go, but never actually thought about the lead up to any given banning. Also, I’ve seen some posters hang on for years and then suddenly be banned, while others are here and gone in a flash.
For people who have been here a while, and assuming we’re dealing with insults and being a jerk rather than having sock accounts, it usually goes like this:
Rack up a number of warnings in a fairly short period of time. If this continues there will usually be a warning that you are risking a suspension.
(If it continues) Suspension for a few weeks depending on what the problem is and how severe it is.
(If it’s still happening) Usually a warning that banning is near.
(If the continuing continues) Banning.
All warnings are accompanied by notifications that are sent through the private message system.
That list isn’t written in stone; I don’t want to guarantee that we always tell people they are at risk for a suspension before it happens. We don’t always give a separate last warning; sometimes we just tell people that if they come back from a suspension and have more problems, it’s over. But the above is how we usually handle it.
A long time ago, before I was modding, the rule was three strikes and you’re out. As the board got older that went away. These days we go with a more flexible system and we think about patterns of behavior, not a set number or period of time. But in general, if you get a handful of warnings in a couple of weeks or a month, you’re at risk for a suspension.
It’s also worth noting here that people who have been at the SDMB longer are going to get a little more of a benefit of the doubt, not because we hate new people but because we have a bit more context for their actions and we can tell if someone is going through a rough period, as opposed to someone who just shows up and immediately starts acting like a jerk.
You’re correct about the insta-bannings. And yes, bannings for being a jerk are pretty rare here. If you leave out socks and people who threatened to sue, we banned about six people last year.
Thanks for the info. I’ve never really sat down and thought about it, as I said. I’ve noticed people being banned, of course, but I haven’t really checked out the threads on why they were banned, or what the banning process was here. Some boards I’ve been on in the past are incredibly intolerant and seemingly ban in an arbitrary way, while others are almost anarchistic free for all zones.
From a personal perspective, it’s nice to know that I’ll at least get some kind of warning if my abrasive and irascible nature and odd sense of humor leads me down the path towards the dark(er) side. Though I don’t really have the time to devote to this board as it really deserves, I really like being a member and posting here, and it would suck if I got tossed out.
It’s a truism for the mods that people who are that concerned about being banned don’t get banned. If you are ever concerned about your status, you can always ask us by PM where you stand in terms of warnings or anything else.
Fair enough. FWIW, I have had almost no issues with the modding on this board…in fact, it’s one of the many things I really like about it, as it seems to strike a really good balance and keeps things from flying off the handle, unlike most of the other boards I used to belong too (leaving aside the boring, tech boards of course). The times I’ve been warned, almost without exception, I’ve agreed with the actions and rebuke. Generally I put my foot in it and fly off the handle first, then regret a post later when someone points out that I was either reading too much into what was being said, mis-underheard what the other poster was saying, or that I was simply being a jerk and going all nuclear on someone when it wasn’t deserved.
At any rate, I appreciate the answers, as it’s something I’ve always been curious about.
If I read an old thread and spot a banee, I’ll often go back and check his post history, looking for clues. If I see no vitriol all over the place, I’ll guess that he made a sock account (which also got banned tho I have no idea who it was). I do remember that guy who responded as his sock when he meant to post under the original account, and several people then went, “Umm, whaa?”
If you’re close to a suspension or banning for those kinds of reasons, you’ll know about it. Occasional instances of bad judgement aren’t going to be a problem. It’s persistent behavior over a long time, and failure to change that behavior when warned about it, that results in a banning. As Marley23 says, posters who show an inclination to work with the moderators don’t end up getting banned. You pretty much have to work at it to be shown the door here.
I have seen some boards actually use Yellow and Red cards, much like soccer.
IIRC, the cards are visible on the posts, and I think might carry with the poster himself, on all posts he comments to.
Then again, that site hands out warnings like no tomorrow. In their off-topic section, I started a mew thread, I posted to my Youtube Channel, and bumpped it, once.
Advertising and bumping.
I once made a comment on a thread that was “Dead”, and got a warning for reivivng it.
They thankfully noted but passed on my one thread where I added extra lines to a comment, to indicate a pause, for a joke, as is quite common over here. They went and removed the returns.
Needless to say, over there, I have a quite a few yellow cards, all expired, thankfully.
We do have that system here. It became available as part of the 2008 upgrade but we didn’t start using it until May or June 2009. Here’s a thread discussing it.
Silly Banned Questions for The Mods:
Which moderator has banned the most users in your (Higher Powers that Be) opinion?
-I’m not just talking posters, I’m talking like the spambots, the trolls, all those things.
Ie: Who’s got the quickest guns in the Mod Arsenal? They should get a reward or a title…
Follow-up: Which Mod has actually probably taken out the most “real” posters?
Do you guys keep track of that? I would guess it’s probably whoever in charge of the Pit or GD…
Finally for two more useless banning questions for the Mods: Which Mod has the best BanHammer Style?
Mods: If you had to be Banned, which mod would you want to do it and why?
Probably either Marley or samclem, both of whom are hell on wheels with spammers and trolls.
Not sure if someone keeps track – I sure don’t – but keep in mind that suspensions and bannings take place only after discussion, sometimes extensive, on the mod loop. The minimal requirement is a “yes” vote from two mods and an administrator, but we usually wait until at least half of the mods and admins have commented.
At that point, it’s relatively unimportant who actually pulls the trigger (does the paperwork, posts the announcement, if any, in ATMB).
Just to expand on what Twix said, this is complicated. There may be multiple mods and admins involved in acrimonious threads with a poster, or someone might have a history with that poster. If the poster goes hyperbolic on one of the mods, we’ll typically pull in someone that wasn’t involved to actually review things, issue the ban or suspension, and communicate with the poster. It may not even be a mod that usually works the forum where the problem happened.
When it comes to moving threads, swatting spammers, responding to reported posts, and all of the other day-to-day responsibilities of moderating the SDMB, we tend to work alone. We issue warnings on our own, but keep the other mods in our forums up-to-date on what we’re doing. But bannings and suspensions are discussed, and we act as a team.
It’s really hard to tell because the different mod records don’t go all the way back to the beginning of this site. The original admins have a big leg up on the rest of us in terms of years. I’d guess it’s TubaDiva, but if it’s not one of the admins, I say it’s samclem. I’m not doing too bad for myself but I have only been at this for two years.
Modesty aside, I think I deserve consideration for that one.
Probably one of the admins because of the amount of time they have been on the job. We post notices when we ban people but we don’t keep track on any kind of individual basis.
I think we’re all in manhattan’s shadow on that one. (“I am the fucking hall monitor” wasn’t even a banning but it’s the gold standard for mod retorts.) I thought Giraffe had a lot of style. And Gfactor can be very sly.
Jack Bauer, so I could go to some other board and say only Jack Bauer could bring me down.
.