when banning members......
 

how about adding an explanation in said memebers profile. It only has to be one line, and it will prevent the "what happened to so-and-so" threads that are inevitably spawned after a bigwig gets banned.

Nice in theory, tough in practice.

There's SOOOO much that goes into 'member management' that it's hard to always distill it down into something that would go into a profile.

Also doing this would really add insult to injury, I know a number of people who have been banned have been very ashamed of the not so pretty things they may have been caught doing.

reserving the right to not allow a member to post on your message board is fine.

however posting possible reasons for doing so in a public forum might open up Geoff to lawsuits for defamation of character. this may sound stupid however people sue for small reasons.


i can see it now.

Joeblowbanned- "banned" for posting links to underage porn sites :D

i think the existing system is a necessary evil. plus not knowing can be more fun :)

I don't have a problem not knowing why someone was banned, and besides that, it's not like you can't find out by just doing a search, the reason can usually be found in their last 5 or so posts...

There could be a list of 11 or so reasons which would fit most situations. For example, in the profile, it could have one of the following statements:

1. Returning banned member
2. Personal attack
3. Inappropriate comments to admin / mods via email
4. Promoted own company while acting as a consumer
5. More than one DVDTalk account
6. Used false or invalid e-mail address
7. Posted information on how to defraud any company or posted illegal or unethical activity
8. Promoted the violation of trademark or copyright of another company
9. Self promoting advertising (including own ebay auctions)
10. Ignored specific instructions by mods to stop an activity or posting pattern
11. Other

12. Not leaving a subject alone when it's been answered.

:)

really? that's harsh!

Yes!

13. Calling Geoff at 12:30.

Ouch! :eek:

Posting in Other is grounds for banning?!?!?! :eek:


Um, I have to get back to...er...the book talk forum. Yeah, that's where I was.

I think that this represents (at least) some middle ground between "say nothing" and airing dirty laundry.

I think people are concerned about fellow users being treated in a fair and above board manner. Right now, frankly, it is a given that users are being fair - I think it is the "above board" factor that you experienced folks might want to consider.