So I’m starting to collect traffic signals, which is a fairly esoteric hobby. I found a forum dedicated to that hobby, and tried to join. Normal procedure for joining a board:
Register,
Repond to email link, bingo.
On this board it was
Register
Wait for admin to activate accounte
Withing 10 days, make a welcome post, choose an avatar, fill out signature, fill out profile. Don’t do that, or don’t post every 90 days and have account deleted.
And all the content is hidden unless your a member. Mind you this is dedicated to collecting something legal, not sexual abuse support or something. Seems a good old boys club, or a step back to the old days when Sysops ruled with an iron fist. In my intro message I posted that I’d put up with their crap (phrased a bit nicer) since I was interested in the content. And I got banned for it. And now I’m mad.
Am I in the wrong here or do I have a right to be angry? Should I just move on with my life and figure I wouldn’t want to hang out with people like that anyway?
Your first post was a criticism on a board that clearly wants to make sure the only people who register really want to be there. Yeah, seems natural they’d ban you.
I’ve not been banned but I posted a few times on geocaching.dot.com. It is hip deep in snotty snark. I posted a non-snarky joke post and got my post vanished and a PM from a mod informing me I was on double secret probation. I was confused so I reply to the mod pointing out the multitude of snark currently going on. She replied basically, “yeah, well, we’re trying to cut back on it”.
I was pissed but simster is right, their board-their rules.
I definitely think you’re better off not getting to know the kind of person who would be such a control freak over a message board.
It may not be surprising that they banned you for expressing displeasure about their rules, but nonetheless, I agree with you that their rules seem over the top.
I agree with you that if it were a message board about some intensely personal topic like abuse then making people go through a rigorous screening process before posting would make sense, but it seems weird to make people go through such an effort for something like traffic lights.
For some reason, there are people out there who just really like being in a clique and like getting the chance to bully other people. Try not to take it personally.
Or find another board. I mean, I’m sure that there’s more than one board devoted to this hobby.
Seriously, in my experience as a mod/admin on this board, the people who start out by posting criticism of the way the board is run, or criticism of the posters, very, very seldom offer anything of value to the boards. I can’t think of anyone who started out this way who actually became a great member later on. Some people have managed to become OK posters, but not very many.
Get some, wire them up, and enjoy the light show. Don’t do it in your front yard if you don’t want the city to show up and pull the plug, that’s already been tried. Like any other esoteric hobby it helps to meet up with fellow collectors, assuming they want you around…
Seriously, eBay, Craigslist, surplus auctions, direct sale from other collectors, getting friendly with the local publics works crew. Like anything else, value varies and sometimes what looks cool to you isn’t necessarily the most expensive. Rare 1930s and earlier in good condition can go for $1000, the 10 year old model the city banged up and broke when they threw it on the truck after taking it down is probably worth not much more than it’s value in scrap metal.
I’m pretty sure the OP isn’t contesting the legality of his being banned. Just the efficacy.
And yea, the banning seems pretty silly. I’d think extremely esoteric hobbies would really want to attract new members. Firstly because the number of people participating in the hobby is presumably going to be small enough that getting in touch with people in ways other then the internets would be difficult. And if you drive too many people away, you risk the numbers of people participating in the board dropping to zero.
So do enthusiasts look down on the newish LED lights?
You wanted to join a social club and the first thing you did when you got in the door was tell them that their rules and procedures were “crap”? Well, it seems to me that you were not a good fit for this club.
If you are invited to a holiday party by your boss at your new job and his or her house is hard to get to, do you arrive at the location and announce to his or her spouse as soon as you get in the door, “Man, what a pain to get here, but I put up with that crap, because your spouse is my boss.”
What kind of impression would you think that makes?
Oh I think “you” should definitely get angry. This matter should shape your future behavior and how you interact with others for years to come. First, let it fester in your gut until you’re required to get medical attention for the ulcer you are starting. Then, turn your anger into planned action. I’m sure you could use all sorts of on-line tools to discover the identities and locations of the site owner etc. By then, your imagination will have devised all sorts of ways to extract your revenge.
One of the members commented on “their hobby being wrecked” if too many people were allowed to be members of even see read the content of their board, for a while they disllalowed anyone without a paid ISP email address because those “weren’t the kind of people they wanted”.
LEDs- yeah, most are into stuff older than LEDs, but there are some that like them. A bulb is a bulb, but all kinds of manufactures, some who are no longer in business, made various LED modules.
So, what’s your point? That some of them are idiots? You still wanted in their club. You have get to know people a little better before they will put up with being called idiots.
