How do you get banned?

I agree in theory, I suppose it just aggravates me when I know how helpful this site can be to people and it's becoming less and less so over time. Dont get me wrong I enjoy the shitposting threads but it seems like almost any time I comment with the genuine intention of helping people the thread is locked or moderated in some way and it annoys me more and more every time. Especially when it seems like the reason it happened is vague or outright nonsensical.

Maybe I'm just too worked up over this, more than I should be, but I'm still kinda annoyed about that bloody prostitution addiction thread when I think about it. I mean the only thing I was personally warned for was for responding to someone who went off-topic, but seeing other users get warned/suspended for calling out OP's bullshit, only for them to end up being completely on the money in the end, really rubbed me up the wrong way. As did being accused of being some sort of bigot just because I was trying to get OP (still under the assumption they were not a troll at this point) to slow down with their decision making.

 

To briefly answer your question OP, we give users a lot of chances before we decide to ban. Typically users who are banned have been warned many times and given an ultimatum. They have had sufficient time to moderate their language before they are banned... we always give people a chance- many chances in fact- to start following the forums rules before we ban them.

As for suspensions, we use those as temporary time outs for users who have been posting rule-breaking content so they can review the forum rules and contemplate on how they could become a more productive member of our community here on the forums. We also use suspensions as a warning that further escalation will lead to even more severe consequences. Users are always suspended- usually several times- before they are outright banned.

That being said, I would also like to address the recent spate of threads complaining about the moderation team.

1. Moderation can often be a thankless job. We don't get a lot of praise for what we do. Nobody likes being warned. We get that. But the forum rules we have in place are there for a reason- to ensure that the forums remain a friendly supportive place for people to recover. We do everything we do with that end in mind.

2. We usually have at least two mods contribute to decisions that are made to warn users, suspend or ban accounts. We prefer this style of moderation to balance out the potential biases and moderation styles of the individual moderators. For example, one moderator who likes to interpret the rules more literally and moderates from that position will be balanced by another moderator who takes a more contextual approach.

3. We try to limit bias as much as possible on the team. We require moderators to recuse themselves if a moderator decision involves someone they are on friendly, or not-so-friendly, terms with. Also moderators are required to recuse themselves if a moderation decision involves an apparent attack against a demographic which they represent.

4. In the end, we are only human. We make mistakes somethings. And when we do, we own up to them. We welcome any questions about recent moderation decisions in regards to your account. If you think that a decision we made was wrong, we have an appeal process you can use. Another moderator will look at the decision the moderator who warned you made and decide whether to uphold the original decision or overturn it. Just PM a member of the moderation team with your appeal.

 

Thank you for what you do. Your actions have helped this be a place that I am less embarrassed to be a member of. Your job is tough and thankless and I just wanted to say thank you.