New Immediate Ban/No Warning Policy

A few days ago, we (the staff) started implementing a new policy to enforce the site's rules against bashing and insulting. Since then, there has been a lot of misinformation, omissions, and in some cases lies about how the rules are being enforced. Here's some information to help clear it up.

1. The rules on bashing/insulting haven't changed. How we deal with people who break those rules has.

We've tried, over the past year, to go a little easy on Mibbians when it came to bashing/insulting in blog posts. We understand that blog posts can often be personal and, as expected with personal things, people can get emotional and perhaps overheated. So, instead of an immediate ban, we deleted bashing/insulting blog posts and sent the user a warning - in the hopes that the warning would be enough to prevent users from continuing to break this rule.

That didn't work.

Despite giving users an opportunity to learn from their mistakes without being banned, what we got instead were users taking advantages; users deciding that maybe getting a warning and their post deleted was worth it if it meant they got to call someone they were annoyed with or disliked a derogatory name or 'take them down a notch.' Because of that, we've had to change how we handled it.

Warnings and deleting posts just wasn't working.

2. To those being attacked, the rules weren't fair.

Whether Mibbians were being directly attacked/bashed/insulted or their favorite bands, actors, television shows were being attacked/bashed/insulted, our past warning and deleting system wasn't being completely fair to them. After all, if you're the one being called derogatory names or spoken down to or in some way attacked, it doesn't seem so fair when the person insulting you "gets away with it."

3. We don't make announcements on who's being banned.

We hear a lot of "Well, so-and-so wasn't banned!" and then our admins and mods look into our forum (where we keep records of who is banned, why, and for how long) and see that, yeah, that person was banned. But because users may not have seen it, they think it doesn't happen. So, yes, just because you didn't hear that someone was banned or you weren't around to witness it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

4. Users sometimes make false claims, omit, or twist the truth about why and for how long they were banned.

Over the past week, unfortunately, I've seen this a lot. Users have been making false claims about why they were banned, about how long they've been banned for, about if they've been banned in the past. They've been making these claims to each other through private messages - I've gotten a few questions about it and have been floored by the things users have told their 'friends' about their bannings - and users have been making false allegations in the blog section (in posts and comments) about bannings as well.

It's really terrible and it happens too often. But the solution is a level of transparency we can't provide (I'll explain this in a minute).*

5. Sometimes users don't think their ban is fair, even when they admit they did say what they were banned for.

There's a few reasons why this happens. Most often:

a. Someone else did something else and didn't get banned. Other Mibbians breaking the rules doesn't excuse another user breaking the rules. If you think others are breaking the rules, report it.

b. Well, it's true! Just because someone thinks the insulting thing they say is also true, doesn't mean it's okay to say it. Something can be "true" (in your opinion) and also insulting, and if it is, you're breaking the rules.

c. Someone said something I don't like or agree with, so it's justified. Similar to the "Well, it's true!" argument, no one has the right to attack or insult or bashing anyone, no matter how justified they think they are in doing so.

6. Sometimes users know and acknowledge the fact that they broke the rules but simply (for whatever reason) just don't think they should be banned. If someone breaks the rules, actions are going to be taken. A user gets to decide if they follow the rules or not, but if they decide to break those rules, then they do have to withstand the consequences (whether that be deletion of your post, a warning, or a temporary banning).

7. The enforcement of rules are inconsistent because the enforcement of the rules are changing. As listed above, the old ways weren't working. People were still breaking the rules left and right, so we have to try something different.

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How Staff Handles Bashing/Insulting

Just a little background information on how things work within the staff.

1. Blog mods take care of the blog section of the site. They handle reports (when users send them in, which is fairly infrequently), they delete blogs that need deleting and send out messages to users when necessary. Every action a blog mod takes is recorded and kept in a thread so we (the staff) can see when things happen and what action was taken. (It also helps when users ask questions, they don't have to wait until a specific blog mod is on to get answers. We can just dip into the thread and pull out the answer.)

2. Once a blog mod reports a blog or comment for bashing/insulting, an admin takes a look and does the actual banning. We collect all the information and drop it in a thread (it's called "Banned") where we keep information about who is banned, why they're banned, and when their ban is over. We keep quotes and screencaps of what was said and links if the thing said can't be deleted by us. Then we ban the account and e-mail the user to let them know why they were banned and for how long. (We're waiting for a system to be coded that will give an error message to users when they try to log in: Something as simple as, "You've been banned for breaking such-and-such rules, for more information e-mail....")

3. The length of a ban is determined by what is said, in what context, and the user's past history with that rule. Everyone's ban starts at one full day. But, for example, if someone has been banned before (and recently or frequently) for breaking the same rule, their ban will be longer. Or, for example, if their comment was directed at a Mibban (like if they called a Mibbian a derogatory name), their ban will be longer. So while one person may get a ban for one day, someone else may get a ban for three days, and another person may get a ban for ten days - the 'inconsistency' is based on specific factors.

4. We talk about it. When we ban people, it's more than just the decision of one person. The blog mods talk about it before the blogs are deleted. The admins talk about it before the person is banned - in fact, we have a rule that if we're banning someone, we need to write the letter explaining why they're being banned first to ensure that there's a solidified reason we can agree on.

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Transparency

Like stated above, there's been a lot of misinformation about specific user bans. Sometimes it's just rumors being rumors, but sometimes the misinformation is coming directly and purposely from the users themselves; sometimes people just make false claims to paint themselves as the victims. Sometimes users don't see when a user is banned and so they think it hasn't happened, and this creates confusion and anger.

A great way to deal this would be to show users what's going on. If users could see our reporting thread and banning thread, then they could see when, why, and for how long a user can be banned. They can see if a person's blog was deleted. They can see if a person has been banned. They can see exactly what that person did to be banned and if they've been banned for similar things in the past. There would be less chance for confusion and lies.

The issue is, would that be fair?

Would you want to see that information? Or, if you were the person banned, would you want people to be able to see all that information about you?

I think something like this would be a great benefit to the staff. It would help users to see what's really going on, rather than what people are 'saying' has happened. And yet we don't do it, because it wouldn't be fair to those users - even though those users are breaking the rules, insulting or attacking other users, and then lying about it, we still have to respect the rules against public ridicule.

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Rule Clarification

Due to some users spreading misinformation about why they were banned, there are some rumors going on that you can and will be banned for using profanity in your blog titles or blog posts. Let's take a moment to clear that up.

Users do not get banned for profanity in blog titles and in blog posts.

- If there is profanity in a title, the blog is deleted and the user messaged. The user can repost their blog as long as they post it with an edited title.

- Users are allowed to use profanity in their blog posts, as long as they are not cursing at someone or using profanities to bash/insult someone.

- Users are not banned for using profanity in their blog comments, as long as they are not cursing at someone or using profanities to bash/insult someone.

There has also been questions about why users won't get immediately banned for breaking other blog rules like profanity in blog titles or posting blogs that are less than 100 words. The answer is simple, bashing or insulting someone is much more serious than a swear word in your title or a too short blog. Insulting/bashing/attacking someone is something that needs to be dealt with head on and right away.

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Some Reminders

1. Unless you're actually the person involved, we (the staff) can't and won't answer questions about someone else's specific bannings; it is not fair of the staff to discuss the punishment of other Mibbians in a public manner and as part of a conversation that user is not a part of.

2. If you want answers privately about your ban, just send me or any admin a PM or e-mail (email addresses are listed on admin's profiles) and we'll get back to you privately.

3. I prefer not to discuss individuals bannings in a public forum. I think it breaks the rules of public ridicule. But if you'd like to have a public discussion about your banning in the comment section of this blog, feel free to post a question about it here. But please know that if you do want to have that public discussion, you'll need to give me permission to discuss the details of your ban publicly. It's your choice.

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and finally...

Reporting Things

I don't know how much more times the blog mods can reiterate how important it is to report rule-breaking when you see it, but perhaps it needs repeating again. If you see someone breaking the rules, report it right away. Do not wait until you've been banned for breaking the rules to bring it up. The blog mods check out as many blogs and blog comments as they can, but they certainly can't see everything. If you see something that's breaking the rules, report it to a blog mod so it can be taken care of. If you don't, there's a chance the blog mods may not see it. They can't be everywhere at once.

Here's a quick list of the active blog mods and admins:

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