Rethink Banning Policies

[tamias6]

Just to toss my prospective into the ring. I've been to message boards where the Admins and Mods were authoritarian and would ban forumers simply because they didn't like them. That made for a very poor experience as participants were afraid to say anything other than what Mods and Admins wanted to hear and nothing else. But on the other hand, I've been to message boards were Mods and Admins were too lax in enforcing the rules and not taking care of troublesome members. Again that made for a bad experience as the forums were spammed all the time or infected with internet trolls causing immature arguments. So I gave up those forums too.

This leads me to believe that one has to be able walk a fine line between being relaxed enough to allow members to state their opinions and views without fear of reprisal and being vigilant enough to weed out the non-hackers that don't pack the gear to participate in ongoing conversations in a meaningful way. Taking that in to consideration, being a Mod or Adnim must be a difficult job that requires a logical, rational, and mature person. So far Neo, Monsoon, and the other UP Admins and Mods have what it takes to run this site. They know were to draw the line between logic and just plain stupidity. This is why UP is the message board I frequent most.

As for the reason UP generally wants 18 and over members is simply maturity among other things. This is an example of why. In a thread located in the Coffee House, I remember getting into a heated debate with Metro_M over the ethics of using tasers. However, I made a critical mistake of arguing from purely an emotional stand point where as Metro took a far more solid position by supporting his viewpoints with solid facts and citing reliable resources. I was beat fair and square on that one. If I didn't have the maturity to let the issue go and back off, I would probably have been MemberZ'ed, suspended, or banned. In short I allowed my emotions to get the better of me and was no longer contributing positively to the conversation. Metro_M, being a Mod, simply stepped in and checked me on that. Basically the topics on UP esp. those in the coffee houses can easily stir up heated emotions. Thus it takes a logical, rational and mature mindset to participate in such conversations.

[Neo]

Thanks for the reply Tamias6. Whether or not users believe we take a rational look at banning and suspensions on this site, the truth of the matter is that we do look at each issue individually and certainly do not ban because we do not like an individual. If a person is suspended or banned it is because rules were broken to varying degrees and many times we do give more chances to the individual than we probably should.

[underoak]

Hey all,

I have questions about the rules, particularly about linking to another site that has ads.

I love the noncommercial nature of UP and similar places like College Confidential. It helps make the community and reading experience quite smart and focused, and whenever someone posts a link, many people seem to click through because they trust those links to be full of content and not full of crap ads.

At the same time, I have a neighborhood blog, and I'm considering putting ads on it sometime. I haven't in the past, partly because I wanted to be able to share it noncommercially and not feel or seem like a spammer. But I need to find sustainability.

I've read the rules, and I've read and compared the rules at College Confidential.

So let me make sure I have it right:

1. If I make a post in a thread that says, "I have thoughts on this subject. Go read my blog," and I send you to a site with ads, that would be a clear violation of the rules and spirit of the place. Correct?

2. If I make a post in a thread that contributes to the content of the thread, I could finish by saying, "Want more thoughts? Go read my blog," and if it happens to have ads, that would be OK? Or not? College Confidential makes it sound as if this would NOT be OK. Maybe. They say: "Posts promoting web sites, products, or services are not allowed. Affiliate links and URL or promotional signatures are not allowed. Please don't create extra work for our moderators by posting promotional notices on our boards. If you register as a user, you can put your URL in your profile where interested visitors can find it. We recognize that occasionally a post may contain a URL which could be of value to our visitors."

3. I have an existing link to blog in my signature at UP. If I put ads on that blog, will that be a violation of the rules and I'll need to take off the link?

Thanks for any thoughts. I love UP the way it is now, and I don't want to do anything that would dilute it. At the same time, I don't think I'm the only one in trying to find new ways to survive in a new world. CltBlog.com folks are trying to sell ads on their site now as well, and they often have good information of interest to a place like Urban Planet.

[Neo]

College Confidential seems to have the same view that we do on this matter. Regarding points one and two, we are against this as it clearly is an attempt to drive the discussion off of our site and onto the linked site. We obviously survive because discussion takes place in our forums, so we do what we can to keep that discussion here.

Regarding your third point, I understand that many blogs have ads now to gain a little revenue for the blogger or site owner. I don't mind if your signature points to a site like cltblog.com. I quite enjoy that site myself and I'm sure many here do as well. Having said that, if a post in our forums need to reference such a site, I don't see a problem with it, but you can't just make a one line comment and give a URL to where it can be seen and discussed, that is a clear violation of what our rules are intended to prevent.

Hope this helps!

[Neo]

I wanted to revisit this topic with original point being that the staff need to rethink banning policies. I will admit that we went a spell where things were quite strict around here and I want to divulge that our administration has changed. Will we still be in favor of banning those who clearly violate our rules? Yes, but we certainly aren't here to hunt down folks and pressure them into breaking a rule so that we have reason to ban their accounts. I want UrbanPlanet.org to be a place where everyone feels welcome

If you have steered away from joining in the past due to the administration here, I encourage you to rethink it and give us a shot. We've made drastic changes in the last few months and I'm certain that you will be please in the direction that we're heading.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Wow, I have been a member since 2007 and never knew this thread existed. Any way with IronChapman down at Georgia Southern University, would you need someone to possibly look after the Atlanta Forums, and I.C. could work Georgia.

But the big question for me is in fact age. And probably what many might consider old age.

Do you accept Moderators 50 or over??

And if so, you would not have to reveal your age to the forumers, correct?

And Jake (I.C.) was moderating at 17 or 18 if not mistaken. No offense Jake, we really miss you and hope you graduate at the top of your class.

One thing for certain, he can take some killer pics!!

[Neo]

Wow, I have been a member since 2007 and never knew this thread existed. Any way with IronChapman down at Georgia Southern University, would you need someone to possibly look after the Atlanta Forums, and I.C. could work Georgia.

But the big question for me is in fact age. And probably what many might consider old age.

Do you accept Moderators 50 or over??

And if so, you would not have to reveal your age to the forumers, correct?

And Jake (I.C.) was moderating at 17 or 18 if not mistaken. No offense Jake, we really miss you and hope you graduate at the top of your class.

One thing for certain, he can take some killer pics!!

If anything, I prefer moderators who are older rather than younger just for sheer real world experience and knowledge of their city(s)/region. No, age isn't expected to be thrown out to the public. Very few know my age as an example.

Just send me a private message regarding this and we'll dive a little further.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Thanks Neo, the PM has been sent to you.