People who gets attacked on message boards

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I mod a couple SCA boards, but that's pretty easy. SCA boards are way less anonymous than most, so they need very little policing. I allow debate. I just don't allow personal attacks or trolling. But again, that's not usually a big problem.

Only thing I really will come down hard on is spamming. Every single person I've banned has been because of spamming. I give one warning, ignore it at your extreme peril.

Heck, I don't even care if you are contributing member of the forum and you find something of obvious relevance and spam that. That won't even get you banned. But if it's clear to me that you are only on there to spam my members with crap, and for no other reason, I will weed you out with extreme predjudice.

You have to work pretty hard to get tossed off my boards. But once I come after you, you don't get a lot of chances or discussion from me.

[AFPheonix]

The modding on the Something Awful boards is a thing of beauty. That, and the ability of other posters to get you custom avatars and giant red titles helps keep idiocy down to a fairly low ebb.

My favorite is when someone posts a horrible thread and one of the mods puts in a mod challenge for the OP to meet before any other poster does. If he fails to do so, then he gets banned. There's been some really hilarious outcomes from a few of those.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Only thing I really will come down hard on is spamming. Every single person I've banned has been because of spamming. I give one warning, ignore it at your extreme peril.

Ditto. Of course, it depends on the type of spam. If it's advertising from a spambot, I will delete it; if the spambot returns, then I'll ban them, permanently.

In the case of Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages, it depends on the user. Sometimes, it's a newbie who's never used a message board before and who genuinely does not know what spamming is. If that's the case, then after I've given them my little "Idiot's guide to spam and how not to do it" message, then they'll usually apologise and not do it any more. If however they're spamming cuz they're a nasty, spoiled little brat who sees the message board as their own personal playground and think that they should be allowed to be rude to forum staff and spam their little heart out, then their stay on forums will be short and painful.

I rarely give out permabans for that kind of spamming. Usually the ban is a temporary one; permabans only get given out if the spammer becomes a troll, or constantly registers new accounts to evade their ban. Tho I'm not adverse to giving out second chances, if you screw that second chance up, you're gone forever.

[protege]

Speaking of spammers...there was one morning a few years back, quite a few spammers tried to make their presence known. No sooner do I, along with a few other mods, kill one of them, another one stepped in to take its place. I have very little tolerance for spammers. You want to sell something? Fine, do it somewhere else.

I also have very little tolerance for trolls, especially one idiot who went by the username of "Greg." This twit, was a former mod...who seems to have gone insane. He followed me around CS one night (then, you could see who was reading threads, and where they were on the site)...locking and deleting threads right behind me. Making it look like *I* did it

As if that wasn't enough, he once threatened to kick my ass after I'd stood up for some of the ladies on the boards. Of course, I told him to "bring it on." 11 years on, I'm still waiting That wasn't the only run-in with him--he attempted to tail me at one of the local malls. I ended up losing him in the crowds. I wasn't afraid, but I really didn't want to get blood on my suit

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah, actually, I wouldn't ban someone for that. You can kind of tell the difference between an honest user displaying a lack of judgment and a bona fide parasite.

Some otherwise honest user spams the board, I'll check it out before I even say anything. If it's legit (for instance, "hey gang, Renaissance Fashions is going out of business, the prices are great!" )from someone who is a problem-free contributor to the conversation won't get even a warning or a peep from me.

"Check out my Ebay auction this week at ww.I'm aDamnParasite.com", with no other contribution whatsoever, I won't even discuss it or warn you. I just hit the Big Red Button and you are no longer our problem.

Someone did that to one of my boards (and, as I discovered after a little sleuthing) to a bunch of other related boards as well. ) I posted a general warning about spam in the thread itself (it's a yahoogroups forum, there is only one "thread")...which I only did becauase she'd actually posted a couple of legit posts and I did it as a courtesy. I had checked her account and her mail service was set at "no delivery"...and her activity suggested she wasn't even checking the threads. She was only there to spam. So of course, she didn't see my warning and she did it again.

She actually tried to defend herself when I banned her. I didn't even discuss it further than to tell her I knew what her deal was and bye bye.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

Not on a forum, but I was banned several times from the TwilightSucks.com chatango.

Most of the time, it was for 'calling out a mod.' Before you bristle, let me tell you, this mod had used lines on me like 'I'm a mod, therefore what I say means more than what you have to say.' and 'I am like God here. If I don't like you, I can ban you for just that.'

I got banned for not narc-ing on someone who had multiple accounts. I didn't participate, and I didn't LIE. I just didn't report them. It's none of my business, really.

I got banned for calling someone out who was bashing my former religion. I don't mean debate. I mean, this girl was saying 'Mormons are nothing but polygamist perverts' and the like. Of course I called her ignorant! Give me a break! She wasn't even warned about her insulting behavior either.

Every time, however, my ban was lifted because I provided documentation and screencaps of what the mod had said to me before and after each banning, and what I said that prompted the banning, and another mod would lift the ban.

Some people are not good mods, and it confuses me how they obtain the power to wield a banhammer.

[BroomJockey]

'I am like God here. If I don't like you, I can ban you for just that.'

Well, if they run the place, that's true, I suppose, but I'll be damned to figure out how you build a community when you pull that malarkey. Sounds like they just wanted rampant sycophantism.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

It wasn't even their website, and they were only ONE of the mods, but they got away with it because they were around most of the time.

I don't even go there anymore. If I can't keep track of the rules of a place despite my best efforts, I just won't go. And this guy came up with new rules ALL THE TIME.

[BroomJockey]

this guy came up with new rules ALL THE TIME.

Calvinball?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Admittedly on the Kiss board I admin, I did come up with new rules every so often, but only when I was driven to it by a new example of human stupidity. -.- Why on earth do people have to be told that, for example, it's never a good idea to post a giant porn picture on the public forum? Especially when said topic was posted without so much as a "NSFW" tag. -.- Jeez. This user wasn't a spambot or a newbie, by the way.

[Rapscallion]

Admittedly on the Kiss board I admin, I did come up with new rules every so often, but only when I was driven to it by a new example of human stupidity.

Oh, every time I look at the CS rules, I wince at how long they are. However, I know that each one is in place because someone made it necessary...

Rapscallion

[Flyndaran]

What about rules like using the multi-quote to prevent things that everyone acknowledges I'm not doing? Making rules to prevent abuse is one thing, but requiring everyone do something even when the ulitmate point is moot seems excessive to me.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Oh, every time I look at the CS rules, I wince at how long they are. However, I know that each one is in place because someone made it necessary...

Rapscallion

It's like the fact that they have to put peanut allergy warnings on peanut butter. Someone made that necessary... O_o

[BroomJockey]

What about rules like using the multi-quote to prevent things that everyone acknowledges I'm not doing?

Using multi-quote is a matter of showing respect for your fellow posters, so that all your thoughts are as cohesively presented as possible, and not spread out, thus making it harder to quote your responses, yadda yadda respect for your fellow board members. Not to be an ass, but may I submit that you're failing to recognize this for the same reason you've landed on moderation?

[Flyndaran]

Using multi-quote is a matter of showing respect for your fellow posters, so that all your thoughts are as cohesively presented as possible, and not spread out, thus making it harder to quote your responses, yadda yadda respect for your fellow board members. Not to be an ass, but may I submit that you're failing to recognize this for the same reason you've landed on moderation?

I never meant to seem like I didn't think it was your right as a moderator to moderate me.

I just didn't like two of the reasons given. That it was meant to stop post padding. That it is somehow more respectful and easier.
I disagree with it being easier or more respectful to do it that way. It's uglier and harder for me at least.
And it was aknowledged that I wasn't post padding.
If it seems messy to talk about moderation in this board when discussing moderation in general, then I'm sorry. I'll refrain.