How to get banned

[Neblasian]

Really,

I have noticed quite a few people, especially some of the more active users, been banned from the forum. Is is possible to know under which circumstances these people were banned? I am just curious. Additionally, I will know what not to do. Did other users complained for them, is there a specific algorithm that, lets see, calculates how much cursed words you used then ban you. Do you have to be perverted, a forum hog, etc. Can I have some specific examples.

[Steve Pavlina]

Almost all banning is for spamming. Second most common would probably be trolling / personal attacks.

When a new user gets banned, it's almost invariably for spamming. When a long-term member gets banned, it's almost invariably because they had a meltdown and started making personal attacks against other members. For details on reasons for banning, see the posted forum rules:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/g...uncements.html

Mostly those rules are just common sense, based on how people would normally communicate in person.

When someone sends a PM to report a problem, the moderators and/or myself will look into it. We have a private moderators forum for discussing any major issues.

[WanderingOak]

Two of the Bannees that I know of were sending offensive PMs to other members. Both were given quite a few warnings and 'cooling down' periods, but would not change their ways. Others were given the boot for spamming the forums.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Neblasian

I have noticed quite a few people, especially some of the more active users, been banned from the forum. Is is possible to know under which circumstances these people were banned?

Anytime I've noticed someone who was a regular member get banned, and someone asked about it, Steve and the mods been pretty good about letting us know what happened.

[Brutha]

98% get banned for some kind of Spamming. You don't see most of them because they get banned quite fast. That would be violating one of the rules:

Do not spam - These forums are intended to be kept spam-free. Posting off-topic advertisements is completely unacceptable and will likely lead to your account being banned. In general you can expect the moderators to be more lenient with long-term members who have a history of solid contribution and more heavy-handed with new members who are posting for the first time. If one of your very first posts is a solicitation, it will almost certainly be deleted.

Use reasonable signatures - Signatures that include links to free content-based sites are generally fine. However, in order to prevent forum abuse by internet marketers, the following types of signatures are unacceptable: visually obnoxious signatures; signature links that go directly to sales pages, lead generation pages, or email capture pages; or links to known scams or pyramid schemes. Signatures that ignore this rule will be censored or deleted, and continued abuse is cause for banning. If your intention is to use these forums primarily as a marketing outlet, you've come to the wrong place.

Other people who get banned are mostly hostile to other members/are trolling. Before we ban someone for this, he will get PM's asking him to change. If he doesn't we ban him.

When someone sends a PM to report a problem, the moderators and/or myself will look into it. We have a private moderators forum for discussing any major issues.

Instead of sending a PM to a single moderator about a problem it is often better to hit the Report Post button. That will let every moderator that is online (and checks the moderator board) know that there is something to do.
We usually can handle clear spam in under an hour at any time of the day, when it gets reported that way.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Anytime I've noticed someone who was a regular member get banned, and someone asked about it, Steve and the mods been pretty good about letting us know what happened.

We try to be as open about it as possible.

On the other hand, when we publicly explain why a long-term member got banned, sometimes they go kittywompus afterwards. Shamou is a good example. He was a member who averaged 25 posts a day and received multiple warnings to stop derailing threads and breaking other rules. I got more complaints about him than everyone else combined. First, he got a 10-day ban, then he kept breaking the same rules and got a permanent ban. He asked to come back (twice I think), but I declined. Then he made a fake account to try force his way back in, and that was also banned. Now he goes around trash-talking this place on other forums, including posting false info. On the bright side, he keeps sending us new visitors.

This reminds me of what my 7-year old daughter has to deal with at school some days. "I'm not your friend anymore. [Fill in the blank] is my best friend now. She says you have cooties."

[schola]

Some people are really serious about the forums they participate in. They're called forum junkies.

They'll go ballistic on people for silly reasons, and then stop at nothing to get back in once they're banned. And you thought World of Warcraft was addicting.

If you're averaging 25+ posts/day, you might want to recheck your priorities.