How Not To Be Banned From ATS...

Management. Perhaps you can tell what I did wrong in starting a new thread.

Subject; Why the elites are so into pedophilia.

bases of the post was that what some call reptilians are in actuality being with out bodies, who possess certain individuals.

Which pedophilia creates the condition for possession. Thanks

I posted it by hitting the button at the bottom of the page that says new post. It did appear and then shortl
there after was removed.

a reply to: rken2

You have a message.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Is it considered polite to ignore a person, who has asked
a direct question in a current thread, simply because of a
difference of opinion that has occurred in a previous post?

When I first came to this site ( my first of it's kind BTW and
I had to learn everything from scratch. Even the functionallity
was a task ) that was one of the first things I figured out i.e.
not to ever hold a grudge. No.1 reason because that would be
seen by my own self as truly childish and embarrassing. From
that point I've advertised this determination to other members
often. Secondly because it might lead to getting banned.

I only ask because being ignored can often be the same as being
banned. I realise this kind of behavior can't possibly be moderated.
But respectfully request some thoughts on the matter?

a reply to: randyvs

IMO, we can't force anybody to carry on a conversation with any particular member. We used to even have an ignore feature so that you could not see the posts of any given member you didn't like, but that was retired.

Seemed like a lazy way to deal with a problem, which just required you not read their posts or simply not respond, even if you didn't like it.

Now if for example, a thread pops up and the OP makes some kind of extraordinary claim, like they are a time traveler and then dodges important questions from the membership, then staff may at that point get involved and demand some answers.

If only because we don't like people jerking the membership around. Trolls come and go as you know.

Personally there are a few members I choose not to engage with, even with they engage with me, or try to, directly in a thread. Because I know it's going to devolve into an argument, as opposed to a discussion and I'm frankly too old to just blindly argue ideology anymore.

My two cents as a member.

~Tenth

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thank you for pointing it out.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Thank you Tenth, I'm sure you realise that from one thread to
the next. Choosing not to engage a person in a completely
different topic is potentially counter productive and leaves
no avenue to quell any hard feelings. Many times I've engaged
another member where by things got very hot, for lack of a BT.

But because of being like minded in our opposition to holding
a grudge? We ended up on each others friends list. Some started
out on my friends list and I just can't bring myself to take them off.
As for the relevant reasons of course.

a reply to: FlySolo

Your laborious issues have been addressed but I have a question...

Where are you getting this "five strikes and you're banned" idea from?

Nothing could be further from the truth, well, lots of things could be but that's not the point, there have been members who have been given dozens of "strikes", never been banned, and finally saw the light.

a reply to: Springer

Hi Springer,

From my inbox

Warnings are recorded, and each individual warning expires in three days (72 hours) from the time it was applied.
If forum staff continue to warn you and you gain 5 or more warnings, a temporary posting ban will be enforced automatically.

Warnings/strikes. Anything can happen in 72 hours. My interpretation is if you get 6 you're banned. I got one.

a reply to: FlySolo

That's a posting ban. If you do get 5 'warnings' then an automatic posting ban applies to your account. You then have to deal with those issues before your privileges are restored.

A posting ban is a temporary suspension used to deal with problematic behavior on the boards. Hell pretty sure I was post banned once or twice before becoming staff because I violated the Terms & Conditions.

Only repeat offenders are subject to account review and actual account termination. In most cases.

~Tenth

originally posted by: Springer
a reply to: FlySolo

Your laborious issues have been addressed but I have a question...

Where are you getting this "five strikes and you're banned" idea from?

Nothing could be further from the truth, well, lots of things could be but that's not the point, there have been members who have been given dozens of "strikes", never been banned, and finally saw the light.

Its true, its true! I have been personally given "dozens of strikes" over my time here. I deserved every single one and am overly happy that the owners and mods of this site are real humans who understand and work with people as if they are "real people".

ATS is awesome!!! And if you love ATS you will try hard to remain here as a working part of ATS.

MM

Just back from a four day shift in the naughty corner, the only problem i had with it was i could still read the threads and posts...found myself on a few occasions with my fingers hovering over the keyboard about to reply... lol

a reply to: Soloprotocol

I've been there more than once. I'm not sure how many
times I've been post banned. I know it's a lot. But I was
allowed to come back because I accepted being wrong
everytime. Because I was, but it's been awhile since the
last time. It's true about if you have patience and sincerely
apologize? My experience has always been that an amicable
outcome will result. No better tetimony than from someone
who's butt has been on the line many times. And I say this
place and it's people for the most part are 100%. I don't
say this to kiss up either, because I'm just not that way.

I have been on message boards of one kind or another long enough to have learned one important thing: if you express an opinion about something you will offend someone. Of course there is a difference between speaking your mind, telling the truth and finding that it offended someone, and intentionally baiting people and then slamming them for taking the bait. If no one ever discussed anything but fluff and hypotheticals things would get very boring very fast. Topics with teeth are what make message boards fun and informative. But with that comes the responsibility of respecting opposing viewpoints and accepting the fact that you will not change every mind that differs from your own. The trick is knowing when to stop trying to convince someone of your opinion and let it be. You must do that before it degrades into insults and gainsaying. I log on to message boards with the understanding that I will see something that offends me. I may choose to respond, I may not. If I feel compelled to tell someone they offended me I will do so. I am not trying to start a riot, and I don't believe that responding to a comment is starting anything. Its already started. In some cases I feel that by not answering I am validating the offensive statement. Once I have answered, and subsequently tried to explain the answer, if no progress is made, I simply stop responding. Its not worth the time and effort. There are other threads with interesting and cogent observations to delve in to. I am also human. I forget my own rules sometimes like everyone else does. I try to stay true to the course as best I can.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

What constitutes a 'Warning'?

...and do 'warnings' accrue, till there is 5 - and over what period of time does/or can this occur?

...and, hypothetically, would Thread Drift be an automatic @6 month post ban?

...and, hypothetically, how do you contact relevant mods when their PM's have disappeared from your inbox?

A99

a reply to: akushla99

Many things can get "warned", but usually it boils down to one thing.

Disruptive behaviour on the board.

They do accrue, sort of...

If you go months between warnings, then you're probably not going to have any real issues. Though there are certain trends that we don't let slide when we see it.

But if the warnings come fast and furious over a short amount of time, say a week or so, you'll probably receive some personal time from staff to find out what's going on.

Almost everytime, things get worked out, and the member is good to go. Only occasionally does it go pear shaped, and the member is given the heave-ho.

The key here is, post unto others as you would have them post unto you. Stay civil, and you're golden.

a reply to: seagull

Thanks for the reply.

...but, what constitutes a 'Warning'?

...and, hypotheyically, can 2 Thead Drift-removed posts give you a @6month posting ban?

'Disruptive', is a rubbery term.

...glad to see the inclusion of 'almost everytime'...because one gets the distinct impression that the 'pear shaped' you described, is a distinctly member-side fault...

That 'key' does not work in all doors...

A99

originally posted by: akushla99
a reply to: seagull
...but, what constitutes a 'Warning'?

A "warning" is typically extreme T&C violations, such as porn, gore, threats to members, severe hate speech, hoaxes and so on.

...and, hypotheyically, can 2 Thead Drift-removed posts give you a @6month posting ban?

No. 20 off-topic removals in 10 threads in a single day - maybe. If you've been a member long enough to know better with a history of going off topic, then a posting ban will eventually happen. Posting bans, as with Permanent bans, don't just simply happen left and right. Staff will only initiate a posting ban (time out) when they notice that a member is having a hard time sticking to the T&Cs. This is then followed by communication with the member to discuss problems.

Not sure what you mean with "a @6 month posting ban". A posting ban can last for minutes, hours, days or forever - depending on how fast issues can be resolved.

'Disruptive', is a rubbery term.

Keep in mind that most staff members have been here for years, with thousands of posts on ATS. They know when a fisticuff in a thread is simply the result of passionate debating or obvious trolling. It's easy to see when someone is actually taking part in a discussion and when someone is simply baiting or attacking the opponents because they can't win on facts... In a heated discussion a mod may post in thread that members should tone it down a bit, before actual posts are removed.

...glad to see the inclusion of 'almost everytime'...because one gets the distinct impression that the 'pear shaped' you described, is a distinctly member-side fault...

That 'key' does not work in all doors...

A99

It's simple - as was previously said, the T&Cs are the guide to everyone. If you don't want to stick to them, then that's fine. ATS is not for everyone. Some folks want to use descriptive curse words in their sentences, some folks want to post pictures of naked people or dead people (or both) and some folks want to verbalize their hate for other races, genders, nations and so on. And they are free to do so elsewhere. Yep. Not everyone will want to use the ATS door and stay inside, and that's fine.

There is no 5 strikes and youre out; if that was the case, I'd be gone too. I think I have had over 10 or more posts removed for T&C violations, but thats since I've joined up in 2010.
When you see a post in a thread youre passionately posting in removed, its time to stop for a second and think before you type.
Remember that old saying, 'Think before you talk?'
The same rules apply here.

a reply to: HomerinNC

This has nothing to do with "think before you talk". It has to do with semantics and playing the word game.

a reply to: Gemwolf

"No. 20 off-topic removals in 10 threads in a single day - maybe." Quote Gemwolf

That looks like a very definitive answer...You are certain of this?

Again, I didn't ask what one would get a Warning for, I asked, what is a Warning.
Why couldn't a Posting Ban for (hypothetically) 2 thread drifts (sayyyy polite ones) last for 6 months or more?

'Glad to see the inclusion of almost every time...'

I never (hypothetically) mentioned extreme violations - curse words, banned content etc...that's pretty much a given, I would have thought...

...and NO, that key does not work in all doors...because one gets the distinct impression that (the pear-shaped) being described is purely a member-side fault.
Some posters here have been Writing for years, and have hundreds of thousands of words behind them...this does not (like the all too human mods) exempt them from having a twitchy trigger finger...does it?

...and anything that goes 'pear-shaped' must be a memmber-side problem?...I use the expression pear-shaped to describe any and all valid and (hypothetically occuring) 'communication problems'...including relevant comms relating to bans, warnings etc,disappearing from your inbox - could make it difficult to 'work things out' don't you think?

Å99