4 ms·

this is why online communities than ban instead of suspend are throwing away otherwise helpful users

• dang 7y ago
  Would you like to say more? I have a feeling that we should introduce that to HN.
  • gjs278 7y ago
    well I think the parent sums it up best but basically there's going to be temporary meltdowns that eventually go away. jekyll and hyde type scenario. jekyll is helpful most of the time but sometimes outside factors (irl) bring out mr hyde more often. obviously no community has to tolerate mr hyde and they shouldn't, but permanently banning mr hyde also bans jekyll when the transformation (outside stress factors) wears off. if you don't suspend mr hyde he won't take a second to look back and reflect. you have to kick him out for a bit for the sake of the site and to warn the user. a warning + ban is taken literally though. it's like when your mom tells you that you can't go to the dance because you didn't clean your room. the dance is no longer an option. then you call her a name and she says "now you really can't go to the dance." which implies there was still a chance but you didn't understand the nuances about it. it makes no logical sense. even in the most extreme scenarios I can't see how a 1 year suspension from a site outside of doing something illegal would be worse for everyone involved than a ban. if they actually wait 1 year and come back without evading, they're probably going to be a lot more careful and whatever was going on may be resolved without forcing the user to have to disclose to online moderators that they were upset because of x at the time. the automated system takes care of it.