# Why do we announce when some people have been banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 1, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083 "2013-08-01T14:50:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/21 "2013-08-02T01:53:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The cases I’ve often wondered about are those posters who have been here for a “medium-short” time, say, from a month or so to several months, who have actively posted in various threads, and who then suddenly get banned without any obvious reason. ISTM this has been not-uncommon around here. > > In the cases I’ve noticed, I’ve sometimes searched up all their posts to see what their warnings were, and been unable to find any. (Meaning, I’m referring here to those particular cases where I couldn’t find any obvious jerkish behavior nor any warnings.) If they opened any threads of their own, they have often been closed without comment, and without notice in ATMB. > > When someone gets banned very very quickly (like within a day or two of signing up), without any obvious reason, I get that it must be a sock (or possibly a spammer whose spam posts have been disappeared before I see them). But why do some members and guests get banned after several months here, without “obvious” cause and without comment from the Mods? Probably a sock who excaped us for that long. We don’t tend to comment on socks. > [@](#): > > ETA: Related question: I asked in a recent thread: How much of the Mods’ time is spent addressing reports (and PM’s)? Same question here: You guys are always telling us to ask via PM why someone got banned. How many people actually ask you? How inundated are you with individual (and possibly redundant) requests of this sort? I’ve always refrained from asking via PM about bannings because I envision that if lots of users did that, you’d never dig yourselves out! We don’t get that many PMs or emails questioning why someone got disappeared. You aren’t bothering us if you ask. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/22 "2013-08-02T02:09:01Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > In the cases I’ve noticed, I’ve sometimes searched up all their posts to see what their warnings were, and been unable to find any. (Meaning, I’m referring here to those particular cases where I couldn’t find any obvious jerkish behavior nor any warnings.) If they opened any threads of their own, they have often been closed without comment, and without notice in ATMB. As **sam** says, this generally indicates a sock that we didn’t detect at first. Sometimes it can take a while for evidence to become apparent. If you want to know about a specific case, feel free to PM me. > [@](#): > > ETA: Related question: I asked in a recent thread: How much of the Mods’ time is spent addressing reports (and PM’s)? The most time consuming thing is dealing with spam reports. Then thread moves. There are usually no more than a few thread reports a day that call for a mod note or a warning. > [@](#): > > Same question here: You guys are always telling us to ask via PM why someone got banned. How many people actually ask you? How inundated are you with individual (and possibly redundant) requests of this sort? I’ve always refrained from asking via PM about bannings because I envision that if lots of users did that, you’d never dig yourselves out! Checking my PMs, I have exactly two such queries in the last six months. So no, we are not exactly inundated. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/23 "2013-08-02T02:25:49Z")
And just to emphasize: when someone who has been around for a while and posts a bunch gets banned, people notice. If we didn’t announce bans at all, we’d probably get several “what happened to this person?” announcements per poster. So announcing and explaining them upfront is more convenient. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/24 "2013-08-02T08:57:39Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Hey! I was suspended for a coon’s age (it was the liquor talking) and _ **nobody even noticed** _. > > I hate you people. :mad: (bolding mine) Well, that’s because it was… you. 😉 Just kidding… D&R ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/25 "2013-08-02T12:27:08Z")
I’m curious about socks - if an otherwise legitimate poster then creates a sock, are both of his identities considered socks, or only the second one? And, do both identities get banned (I’m guessing yes)? Don’t need answer fast… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/26 "2013-08-02T13:20:14Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Yet some posters get an announcement when they’re banned pour encourager les autres. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/27 "2013-08-02T13:50:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > pour encourager les autres. Meh, missed the edit window. Meant to add /ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/28 "2013-08-02T13:56:39Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I’m curious about socks - if an otherwise legitimate poster then creates a sock, are both of his identities considered socks, or only the second one? And, do both identities get banned (I’m guessing yes)? > > Don’t need answer fast… Both identities get banned if the person really pretending to be two different people. If the person is just unaware of the rule or lost his or her password or something like that, we’ll usually explain the rules and combine the two accounts. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/29 "2013-08-02T14:47:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Both identities get banned if the person really pretending to be two different people. If the person is just unaware of the rule or lost his or her password or something like that, we’ll usually explain the rules and **come** the two accounts. :eek: Please tell me that’s an autocorrect error for “combine”. Please. Take away this horrible visual I just got. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/30 "2013-08-02T14:50:06Z")
Yes, “combine.” Please don’t tell me what you’re thinking. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083/31 "2013-08-02T15:32:33Z")
Yes, mods get it on with socks. Hey, don’t judge - moderators don’t get to have social lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-announce-when-some-people-have-been-banned/665083.md?page=1)