general questions Banned members...

[Odyssey 5,716]

I hope I'm posting in the right thread...

 

So! One thing that has been bothering me for a few months now is that some people aren't over the fact that a certain member of MLP Forums has been banned. I won't be naming who, and I do respect others opinions on said member, but I do feel bad for making others feel that way.

 

My question is this. Can members write a confession about how and why they banned a certain member? Or is it better off if said ban is kept between yourself and the staff? Are there also any consequences if you do get the chance to write a confession?

[CloudFyre 848]

I hope I'm posting in the right thread...

 

So! One thing that has been bothering me for a few months now is that some people aren't over the fact that a certain member of MLP Forums has been banned. I won't be naming who, and I do respect others opinions on said member, but I do feel bad for making others feel that way.

 

My question is this. Can members write a confession about how and why they banned a certain member? Or is it better off if said ban is kept between yourself and the staff? Are there also any consequences if you do get the chance to write a confession?

This has been discussed before, and the general rule "bans aren't discussed" usually hold for a number of reasons.

 

First off: the staff here are only human. Maybe on some other forum you can find infallible staff (I doubt it), but the moment you start talking about why someone was banned, then you get into a mess of things like "User X was banned for this, but why isn't user Y banned for __________?" In the end, bans are a judgement call.

 

In general, taking time to explain bans just doesn't make for good community building, and in all honesty, some of the things members are banned for should not be talked about. People just don't need to know what was happening. The moment you start talking about it (especially with a more popular user being banned), all of their friends start rallying for a crusade against the mod/admin that made the final decision.

 

Long story short: bans aren't discussed since it has led to messes in the past.

[Jeric 46,851]

I hope I'm posting in the right thread...

 

So! One thing that has been bothering me for a few months now is that some people aren't over the fact that a certain member of MLP Forums has been banned. I won't be naming who, and I do respect others opinions on said member, but I do feel bad for making others feel that way.

 

My question is this. Can members write a confession about how and why they banned a certain member? Or is it better off if said ban is kept between yourself and the staff? Are there also any consequences if you do get the chance to write a confession?

I moved this topic to Feedback and Suggestions site it proposed more of a policy oriented question than a question on site functions or features.

 

Now,

 

Out of respect for the banned user and thier privacy, the Staff will not discuss the specifics of a ban. There are occasions that bans and warnings become public through the banned member and we have to explain why to the community, but these are rare.

 

Also, you asked if a member can confess? I am not sure if this is what you meant by that exactly, but I do feel the need to say this: Members do not ban other members. Nor should anyone be made to feel guilty for reporting a member should they see a violation. No decision is made to ban a user without careful consideration, and I would discourage someone from publicly stating that they reported a post/PM/profile.

 

Again there are privacy concerns for the banned user who may have a internet presence off of MLPF with that username.

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

I'd assume that by doing this publicly, MLP forums would initiate a raging storm of angry members, thus creating more dramas and a lot of chaos that would only cause more warnings being handed out, especially with the already touchy subject of banning

.

The bans are kept discreet for a reason to avoid this kind of thing happening in the first place.

 

It seems like a good idea in theory, but it probably isn't practical for the whole of the forums.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Count Crimson

[Virgil 685]

There are banned individuals that a part of me would like to say something like, "Why did you ban so-and-so! What could they have possibly done that would deserve getting banning?!"; I'm probably sure in most cases the staffs response, if they made one hypothetically that is, would be something akin to, "You don't even want to know bro".

So as much as it may suck having the moment where you try to PM someone, then see they have been banned, and you can't think of a reason why they were banned. That's likely much better for everyone than any possible alternatives.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Virgil