(07-01-2020 01:12 AM)BEARCATDALE Wrote: Serious query. I've noticed some posters get banned but don't know why. I'd like to protect myself from posting things that would disrupt my enjoyment of this site. I'd would prefer a public announcement as to why some members get banned so I can learn. Something smells like anchovies.
1. Read the board AUP. The first thing that might stand out to you is that moderation is not discussed in public. So technically I can warn or ban you for posting this thread.
2. Sins are between you and God in real life. Sins here are between you and the board AUP. Moderators enforce the rules. But here are some specific reasons (to those individuals banned) that posters get banned.
*Posting Spam or linking to other boards in an attempt to take away this boards posters.
*They have been previously banned under another name and a moderator recognizes the posting style checks the IP and discovers who they really are.
*Constant trolling, thread disruptions which include the troll to alter discussion, dissembling the intent of the OP, abusive language, personal attacks upon other posters in which derisive language is used in an attempt to silence a poster, telling people on a message board to shut up which is of course counter to the intent of discussion, doxing or attempting to dox another poster, or in the majority of most cases constantly repeating offenses for which they have already been warned.
*Physically threatening other posters and some of that is done by PM so you wouldn't see it but a copy of the threatening PM has been sent to the moderation team.
This frequently includes personal attacks and threats against the moderator that may come in a PM after an initial warning has been issued.
*Posting material in violation of board AUP which includes nude pictures of women or men.
*Use of inflammatory racial slurs or gender orientation slurs. And I am not speaking of calling a poster who is openly gay to the board gay, but the use of more derogatory terms of the same ilk.
*Talking politics anywhere but the spin room. This is primarily a sports board. When a conversation naturally becomes political this is why the thread is moved to the Spin Room.
*From time to time we get posters here who come to offer the board nothing of their personal views but are here to spin the conversation to an alien purpose. They aren't hard to spot. They never mention a school, talk about personal experiences, share something that happened at a game, they stick to one particular set of talking points designed to manipulate or gain information about the opinions of board posters on their set of topics. The spin room has had a few.
*General jackassery". This means being disruptive or mockish in a deliberate and undeniable way for the purpose of disrupting the normal activity of the board.
This covers about 99.9% of the issues around here. There are always exceptions.
Moderation remains private to protect the posters involved since the vast majority of them remain posters. If I see a group of posters violating AUP over a matter instead of writing individual warnings to each I may interject in a thread to cease a certain behavior. After that individuals will be warned privately if the conduct continues.
On rare occasions a poster has said something libelous to another online. Naturally they have been shut down.
So there you have it. But the establishments of threads questioning moderation action can get you banned.
If you or anyone else have questions about a moderation action you may feel free to PM a mod and ask. If it is something they can talk about in non-specific terms they may give you an indication of why it happened. But open discussion about it is a violation.
And another point to dispel myths here. Moderators don't delete posts (at least they aren't supposed to). They unapprove them which means they disappear from your vision but the posts remain in their threads where every moderator can see them and where administrators can see them as well. This way we can clean up threads and leave the evidence for others in moderation with questions about an event to see it all.