Question about board administration

[ScottM]

This question is not about any one person nor any recent event, it is just out of curiosity.

I have seen people banned and some people suspended from this board. I am not asking about specfic cases but what are the difference, in general, about those two levels of timeouts?

What is the procedure for one to get either one of these timeouts as an action against their account? Not that I aspire to that dubious honor, but I wonder how it works, are there official warnings, hearing appeals, etc?

I looked through the FAQs and really did not see how it all works.

Just curious

 

[wsuffa]

A suspension is for a specific amount of time, and IIRC it permits the person to read but not post to the board (or specific sections, depending). A ban is just that - can't read or write to the board, persona non grata.

Generally, the decision is made by the management council. The MC has a discussion relative to the merits of the issue and what action is warranted. It may be an informal warning, a formal warning, a suspension, or a ban. To some degree, it varies on the offense and the person. The folks who post undesired spam on their first post are generally banned swiftly and outright. For regular posters, the degree and number of times they've busted the RoC enter into the equation. There will be a discussion among the MC about the proposed "timeout" and how to implement - and the decision may or may not be unanamous. Same as any other discussion on policy changes.

BTW, just because a person gets a lot of "bad post" reports against them doesn't mean that the MC will suspend or ban them. We weigh whether the post is really "bad" per the RoC and whether they are a good "citizen" in the community.

Speaking for myself, I think we all wish there were no "bad posts" nor "bad post" reports. We'd rather see a vibrant and welcoming community at PoA, where folks can have civil discussions in a fairly open fashion. Obviously, each member on the MC looks at things their own way.

 

[ScottM]

Thanks Bill that is very helpful. One more question is the person that is being considered for admin action allowed to voice their side of the issue to the MC or appeal the decision in anyway?

 

[wsuffa]

Thanks Bill that is very helpful. One more question is the person that is being considered for admin action allowed to voice their side of the issue to the MC or appeal the decision in anyway?

Short answer: yes.

Scott, rarely (except for spammers and very egregious problems) is a suspension or ban meted out without previous incidents. So, generally the person being considered for admin action has one or more chances to interact with the MC.

The MC is available via the PM system or by the email addresses shown somewhere on the site. And yes, we do take their comments into account.

 

[MSmith]

Thanks Bill that is very helpful. One more question is the person that is being considered for admin action allowed to voice their side of the issue to the MC or appeal the decision in anyway?

In my experience, yes and no.

I made some rather nasty statements at one point, and received a temporary ban. (For some technical reasons the ban didn't work but I honored it anyway).

The ban was made without any prior discussion with me. I was able to appeal stating that it was a first offense, and the length of the ban was shortened.

Given that these bans are made based on statements made publicly on the board, I'm not sure what the value of "voicing their side" would be. What you said is pretty clear.