# Why was Seven banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610 "2009-07-28T22:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/281 "2009-07-29T17:28:43Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Perhaps you’re acquainted with the term _reductio ad absurdum?_ Not really, sorry. (Curse you, public education!!) If I had to guess, I’d say it’s something about taking a statement to the extreme to show how absurd it is. In my opinion (and your mileage obviously does vary), that only serves to make the person saying it look absurd, and ignoring the problem that’s right in front of them. Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/282 "2009-07-29T17:29:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > \>snipped a bunch of excuses\< If somebody wants to participate here but can’t control his temper, for example, we remain optimistic they can learn. \>snipped even more useless excuses\< How on earth can you all expect something of us that you can’t seem to nail down yourselves? Now why not go run along and think up so more “exciting new things!” for the board that are just over the horizon. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That is so, but **Seven** wasn’t a troll. He was, however, a useless douche. Where is Alanis when you need her? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: If it is against the rules, I apologise, and I’ll accept my warning or whatever. What a load of crap. You know damned good and well that you’re not allowed to directly insult someone in ATMB. This “if it is against the rules” is cowardly _at best_ but more like extremely dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/283 "2009-07-29T17:30:30Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > What a load of crap. You know damned good and well that you’re not allowed to directly insult someone in ATMB. This “if it is against the rules” is cowardly _at best_ but more like extremely dishonest. I know we’re not allowed to insult other _posters_ in ATMB. **Seven** is no longer a poster. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/284 "2009-07-29T17:30:57Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > …snip…FWIW, this is the sort of thing that looks to me like a yen for the ban. We saw it from **sailor** , now we are seeing it from **Xploder** and **Syntropy**. Either they have forgotten that complaints about the mods are no longer in the Pit, or they don’t care anymore. > > If nothing is done, they’ll just escalate. Just like **Seven** did, IOW. > > Regards, > Shodan You think that **I** have a ‘yen for the ban’? What the hell gives you **that** idea? Because things have changed in the years that I was offline and I asked some questions? Because I made a dumbass mistake and got my first (and only, I believe) warning? Right dude…I’m actually TRYING to get banned. That’s why I try and prevent the ignorance that is **lekatt** in GD when he posts bullshit he knows nothing about. sheesh…sailor was right about you, and, from what I’ve seen since I came back, so is everyone else. If I wanted to get insta-banned like **seven** did, I’d call you a \_\_\_\_ or tell you to go \_\_\_\_ yourself. Way to fight ignorance, something which you apparently know nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/285 "2009-07-29T17:33:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I know we’re not allowed to insult other _posters_ in ATMB. **Seven** is no longer a poster. I thought we weren’t supposed to insult people who were banned and could therefore no longer defend themselves. Or was that merely a precedent and not an actual rule? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/286 "2009-07-29T17:34:25Z")
> [@starwarsfreek42](#): > > Or was that merely a precedent and not an actual rule? It’s only a rule when they want it to be. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/287 "2009-07-29T17:35:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s only a rule when they want it to be. Gotcha. Ya. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/288 "2009-07-29T17:35:43Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > If someone has a long history of being a good poster, but gets frustrated with the staff and/or rules after some major changes get made, does this make them irredeemable? I’m wondering if an effort is ever made to take the poster aside and talk off-board a bit. Maybe try to determine what’s gotten under his skin to make him suddenly antagonistic. Is that ever done? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/289 "2009-07-29T17:38:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > On a related note, [Someone asked earlier about the idea of recreational complaining, and here’s a thread on the topic.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506847) (I note that the direct link to the rule does not work, but it’s one we’ve enforced recently and over the years.) Although it totally cracks me up that you chose THAT of all possible examples to illustrate a point (any point, really), I think it would be a great disservice to let that post go mentioned without bringing up my response to it where I make the case that the accusation of recreational complaining was the lamest of all the made up crap you brought against me. So for the sake of completion: > **[About Sapo's suspension.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508971)** > > This would have been a great place to stop. Jerkiness is a matter of opinion and few would have disagreed with that. I have thousands of spots on every topic that doesn’t include Barbra Streisand and/or green beans, both if which I hate. Maybe I am... ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/290 "2009-07-29T17:39:13Z")
> [@starwarsfreek42](#): > > I thought we weren’t supposed to insult people who were banned and could therefore no longer defend themselves. Or was that merely a precedent and not an actual rule? Is that a rule? I thought that was just why they closed zombie threads. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/291 "2009-07-29T17:39:52Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’m wondering if an effort is ever made to take the poster aside and talk off-board a bit. Maybe try to determine what’s gotten under his skin to make him suddenly antagonistic. Is that ever done? To do so would be to acknowledge that “mistakes were made.” TPTB are better at denying history than the Soviets ever were. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/292 "2009-07-29T17:44:34Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > You think that **I** have a ‘yen for the ban’? What the hell gives you **that** idea? Because things have changed in the years that I was offline and I asked some questions? Because I made a dumbass mistake and got my first (and only, I believe) warning? It’s mostly the “you deserve to be called a shit” in post #197. Although nothing has happened as a result, so maybe it will pass unnoticed. Same with **Syntropy** calling me a troll and all that. Better up the ante. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/293 "2009-07-29T17:48:32Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’m wondering if an effort is ever made to take the poster aside and talk off-board a bit. Maybe try to determine what’s gotten under his skin to make him suddenly antagonistic. Is that ever done? Sometimes it’s done by third parties interested in an overall goal of message board harmony. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/294 "2009-07-29T17:49:57Z")
FWIW…however much that may be… Marley; I mean this sincerely. Please do not read any snark into it: I am sorry, VERY sorry, that you were placed in the position of arguing with some 70 people and delivering an unpopular decision without any recognizable support from your administrators. Although I disagree with your reasoning and everything you have said in this thread, I do believe that you care about this board and want what is best for it. I find it entirely unconscionable that you have been designated to defend what is (yes, IMO) an indefensible position without at least one post of agreement from another moderator or administrator, and I am offended on your behalf that at this point, you have been made to look like a mouth piece. I would never leave my employees twisting in the wind in the way you have been made to. I wish you luck. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/295 "2009-07-29T17:51:10Z")
NOTE: I was not there when the decision was made to ban **Seven** , so I cannot address the banning directly. I will, however, answer some of the specific questions I think need to be answered: > [@Polyperchon](#): > > But let’s ignore that for the moment, because I’d like one straight forward question answered in a straight forward manner, if you will: > > **why was Seven consider jerkish for quoting Tuba in his sig but Tuba not considered jerkish, and warned, for saying what she said?** The mods do not (and cannot) police private messages or emails. We couldn’t read your PMs even if we wanted to. > [@Myrnalene](#): > > **Is it against the rules to post private correspondence from a mod?** It is against the rules to post private correspondence from anybody without their permission. > [@featherlou](#): > > Let’s not let this get lost in the noise - I would like to hear from someone in authority on this. Was Seven banned in part because of his participation on other messageboards? No. Members of this board are free to own, operate, moderate, participate in, and read any message board they so choose. We don’t allow recruiting and we don’t allow inciting board wars. That said, if you want to go over to Giraffe’s board or the snarkpit and post that I’m a twit, have at it. ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/296 "2009-07-29T17:53:03Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It’s mostly the “you deserve to be called a shit” in post #197. Although nothing has happened as a result, so maybe it will pass unnoticed. Same with **Syntropy** calling me a troll and all that. > > Better up the ante. > > Regards, > Shodan Really? Comprehend much? Here’s EXACTLY what I said in post #197: > [@Xploder](#): > > My mistake then. Regardless of who said it, it was funny as hell. And accurate too! Now if you’re talking about what I said in post #192: > [@Xploder](#): > > Ding ding ding!! There’s the correct answer! > > And **Shodan** , you’re just pissed because **seven** called you shitdan. Then you’re still wrong, I neither implied nor said that you deserve to be called a shit. I SAID that it was funny that someone called you shitdan, which it is. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/297 "2009-07-29T17:56:16Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > It is against the rules to post private correspondence from anybody without their permission. Is that written down somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/298 "2009-07-29T17:56:58Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’m wondering if an effort is ever made to take the poster aside and talk off-board a bit. Maybe try to determine what’s gotten under his skin to make him suddenly antagonistic. Is that ever done? I think it has been, with fairly limited success. Usually there is a difference of opinion between the staff and the poster that is not going to be resolvable just by discussion. I’d like to see one of two options applied in these situations: either you live with posters who you know don’t like some aspects of how you’re running your message board and will point it out to you whenever they can, or you put them on a longish suspension, say 3-6 months. I personally don’t think anything **Seven** has done even remotely qualifies for suspension or banning, but since the staff obviously feels differently, I’d push for the latter in this case, and in all future similar cases. Why throw away a good poster forever over a short period of high emotion? That’s like getting a divorce the first time you and your spouse have a big fight. (OK, it’s really not like that at all, but I don’t have any better analogies and I like to finish posts like this with an analogy. It’s like having dessert at the end of a big meal.) ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/299 "2009-07-29T18:01:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is that a rule? > > I thought that was just why they closed zombie threads. It was fairly standard policy back in the day. Even with banning threads in the Pit, calling the departed names was…considered being a jerk. It wasn’t enough to get you an official warning that I ever recall, but it would get mods telling you to back off. You could talk about the various ways you disagreed with the bannee and found his views/behavior distasteful, but it Wasn’t Done to call him, say, a useless douche. Of course, that was back in the Good Old Days when it felt like the people running this place and the people providing the actual content were all on the same team. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610/300 "2009-07-29T18:01:29Z")
One more moderator note: Directly insulting another poster is not allowed in ATMB, and YES this includes posters that have been suspended or banned. Please stop doing it now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-seven-banned/504610.md?page=16)