# Number of Banned **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 24, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124 "2003-02-24T07:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/1 "2003-02-24T07:22:28Z")
I know discussing the previously banned in the forums can sometimes be verboten around here so I ask this with a moment of hesitance, but there has got to be a list of banned people somewhere, either by name or by IP address. Given that the SDMB gets LOTS of traffic and our crack team of moderators does a fair amount of…well…moderating, I was just wondering how long of a list this is? Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/2 "2003-02-24T07:29:50Z")
I remember a mod saying something along the lines of “We assumell banned members are one and the same” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/3 "2003-02-24T08:39:48Z")
Certainly the number of banned usernames exceeds the number of banned individuals; maybe the mods have a list, but then again, why would they bother?; a banned member is, by definition, something to which the mods no longer need devote very much attention. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/4 "2003-02-24T09:02:33Z")
Didn’t concrete or someone else have something like 15 usernames that were banned? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/5 "2003-02-24T13:47:51Z")
We’ve not bothered to count. One of the reasons for banishment is having multiple screen names, and some of banished try to sneak back in… 15 or 20 times. So the count of banned names, even if we had it, wouldn’t be much use. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/6 "2003-02-24T14:09:26Z")
But **Cyberhwk** did ask if there was a list of banned IP addresses. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/7 "2003-02-24T14:17:48Z")
But you could, readily, determine what percentage of the (currently) 31,471 usernames are banned. You could refuse to provide the number, as a matter of policy, but it’s not hard to determine. Just list users sorted by user status, and count the entries starting with “b” or “B”. Then add one for the “Too Stupid for Words” entry. Divide the sum by 31,471. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/8 "2003-02-24T15:12:47Z")
Soon as I have five minutes with nothin’ better to do, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/9 "2003-02-24T15:39:29Z")
You forgot to muliply by the square root of pi and subtract the number you first thought of. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/10 "2003-02-25T05:52:16Z")
Paging Karnak the Magnificent . . . your humble TubaDiva who just knows the answer is in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnalls porch. ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/11 "2003-02-25T12:11:02Z")
I heard that there were about 300 banned usernames, but only about 30-50 banned people. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/12 "2003-02-25T12:31:29Z")
Well, yes. That’s what **Coldfire** said. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Coldfire_ > \*\*A lot. But the number of usernames exceeds the number of actual people that got banned. > > Ballpark figures: > People who got banned: somewhere between 30 and 50, I’d say. > User names that have gotten banned: some 300, roughly. > > I’ll close this thread now, as this sort of thread usually attracts the wrong crowd.\*\* I’d forgotten about that. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/14 "2003-02-27T08:44:36Z")
There is more than a slight discrepancy between the cited quote of **Coldfire** and the one quoting **Bill H.**. :eek: And if there is no list of banned members, how do you know a banned member has reappeared? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/15 "2003-02-27T19:05:53Z")
aren’t there a big group of banned people who aren’t marked banned, because they don’t want a certain sockmaster to get attention? ---
**Author:** ![logos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@logos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/logos)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/16 "2003-02-27T20:53:28Z")
\*\* Tars Tarkas \*\* - That’s right. They usually stop a user from posting by just turning off the posting privileges. Banning is more trouble, and also it’s not desirable if there is some hope the problem can be sorted out by email, such as a flame war between two oldtimes. Also, names some have be deleted entirely, as has been noted before. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/17 "2003-02-27T20:57:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by logos \* > \*\*\*\* Tars Tarkas \*\* - > That’s right. They usually stop a user from posting by just turning off the posting privileges. Banning is more trouble, and also it’s not desirable if there is some hope the problem can be sorted out by email, such as a flame war between two oldtimes. Also, names some have be deleted entirely, as has been noted before. \*\* Gee, you seem to know a lot about this boards, considering this was your first post. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/18 "2003-02-28T01:54:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TubaDiva \* > \*\*Paging Karnak the Magnificent . . . > > your humble TubaDiva > who just knows the answer is in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnalls porch. \*\* But is the jar hermetically sealed? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/19 "2003-02-28T04:21:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\*Gee, you seem to know a lot about this boards, considering this was your first post. > > Zev Steinhardt \*\* Well, the first post under that name, anyway. Also, this old troll is apparently thinking of the old UBBS. Nowadays, we just change the “user designation” from Member to Banned or BANNED, depending on who does it. ---
**Author:** ![neonoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@neonoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neonoon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/20 "2003-02-28T06:49:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > \*\*Well, the first post under that name, anyway. Also, this old troll is apparently thinking of the old UBBS. Nowadays, we just change the “user designation” from Member to Banned or BANNED, depending on who does it. \*\* Ahem… I don’t know why you think that makes you look better somehow, but it’s just not true. Ask **LA without the X**. Oops, you can’t- he’s got his posting privileges turned off. So why don’t you come clean on this? What real harm is there in letting on that you know what everybody else knows, that some are Banned, some are blocked from posting, and some are erased entirely. What good does it do to pretend? Who is left to convince? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124/21 "2003-02-28T06:52:00Z")
Quoth **kniz** : > [@](#): > > There is more than a slight discrepancy between the cited quote of Coldfire and the one quoting Bill H… Speaking as a physicist, “some 300, roughly” is not inconsistent with 269. Especially considering that the quotes weren’t from the same time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/number-of-banned/157124.md?page=2)