Banning a member and activity drops?

[ClicketyKat]

Have you ever had to ban a member and then see activity drop drastically? I just had that happen and it's frightening! The guy was a menace though and I held out for as long as I could, but he couldn't keep his flaming under control, so I gave him a 6 month ban. Now the post count had dropped drastically and I'm trying hard to boost it up again.

 

[Daniel-cash]

Is the guy for responsible for posting many post in your forum before? Regardless of whether your daily post count or not, a member that always constitute nonsense deserve to be banned

 

[ClicketyKat]

Is the guy for responsible for posting many post in your forum before? Regardless of whether your daily post count or not, a member that always constitute nonsense deserve to be banned

He had been a member for almost a year and was accruing multiple staff actions. Our Moderation Protocol gives some leniency, so that if someone flames another member he'll receive a couple of warnings about it first before any banning takes place. Even after that, I was gracious and mentioned in the threads that he needed to stop.

 

[Shortie]

I can't say I have ever seen a drastic drop in activity on my forum after banning someone before, this is mainly due to the fact that the person who was banned there was a good reason for them being banned and that was because they were going round causing trouble and basically spamming rather than adding good posts to the forum so it was more of a relief from the members than a "what did you ban them for" reaction and the quality of posts continued and there was less spam and trouble caused.

 

[Reverie]

I once banned a member and it upsetted 2-3 other users and they left as well. They did provide an okay amount of activity, but once they left, other users stepped up and discussed how negative those users were. In the end if people leave due to a user being banned, then maybe they weren't the members for your community.

Of course we want to keep all users happy, but when people have a stake out due to someone being banned, that is unfortunate. I guess it also has to do with why that user was banned, was it warranted? I privately discussed this with a few users who PM'd me and questioned why. And we were able to move on.

 

[Aussie]

Have you ever had to ban a member and then see activity drop drastically? I just had that happen and it's frightening! The guy was a menace though and I held out for as long as I could, but he couldn't keep his flaming under control, so I gave him a 6 month ban. Now the post count had dropped drastically and I'm trying hard to boost it up again.

The alternative of this person wrecking the whole forum is much worse, and who knows, maybe after 6 months they will come back and behave.

 

[ClicketyKat]

The alternative of this person wrecking the whole forum is much worse, and who knows, maybe after 6 months they will come back and behave.

That's what I'm hoping. His ban is up in 5 days. I have no qualms about making the ban longer if he acts up again.

 

[joelr]

We're comparing two very different things:
- activity
- community standards

Only you, as admin, can make a determination as to which one you want to prioritize when forced to choose.

I've been in a similar situation with a very active, very vocal, but someone strongly negative that I banned with great reluctance. I think what you will find is that the remaining members will breathe a sigh of relief, and ultimately your community will emerge stronger. You're banning the member today regardless of engagement to build a better community for everyone tomorrow.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never had this issue before, though I rarely ban anyone on my forums. I can see this being more of an issue back in the day when forums were more popular. Though in the end, if the person was banned for a valid reason then it's beneficial for your community in the long run since you don't have to worry about that toxic member causing issues on your forum anymore.

 

[Uncrowned]

One thing people often forget is that members often love drama and negativity, even if they say they don't. Having a menber that is causing problems turns into more replies and activity a lot of the times. However, for long term community health, it is best to remove the problem and let organic growth continue.

 

[ClicketyKat]

One thing people often forget is that members often love drama and negativity, even if they say they don't. Having a menber that is causing problems turns into more replies and activity a lot of the times. However, for long term community health, it is best to remove the problem and let organic growth continue.

You got that right. I have noticed that when someone new comes to Christianity Haven and starts a fight, our logins increase and members lurk throughout the day or days. Then I'll have some longtime members advise me on what they'd like to see happen (we have a private forum for that type of discussion) and sometimes I'll follow their advice.

I think the problem comes when members feel sorry for the banned member even though he caused issues.

 

[Aussie]

One thing people often forget is that members often love drama and negativity, even if they say they don't. Having a menber that is causing problems turns into more replies and activity a lot of the times. However, for long term community health, it is best to remove the problem and let organic growth continue.

Nothing annoys me more when a topic gets heated or a really good debate starts and the mods or admin come in and shut it down. I have seen it time and time again and I just don't get it, as the moments with drama actually gets members fired up and enthusiastic to post. Nothing wrong with people having a disagreement or drama, as long as it isn't personal abuse or doxing or inciting violence then I have no issue with it.

 

[Uncrowned]

Nothing annoys me more when a topic gets heated or a really good debate starts and the mods or admin come in and shut it down. I have seen it time and time again and I just don't get it, as the moments with drama actually gets members fired up and enthusiastic to post. Nothing wrong with people having a disagreement or drama, as long as it isn't personal abuse or doxing or inciting violence then I have no issue with it.

To me, this would be a poor choice for staff to ban the member for just a singular topic or debate, even more so for a debate topic on a heated issue. Granted, there are times were things start to lose their purpose and devolve into personal attacks and such, but most of the time, these types of conversations are healthy for a community. I was mostly referring to members who cause topics to turn into drama as a normal and create issues where no issues should exist as a normal, for example, when a member jumps into something like a counting game and just starts personally attacking other members for things unrelated to the game simply to "create drama". Although I don't believe any single case drama would merit a ban and it would need to be a series of events that keep happening after other interventions and such.

 

[Aussie]

The drama needs to be real, anyone who is seen creating drama in multiple topics... yeah no good.

 

[Debashis]

Now the post count had dropped drastically and I'm trying hard to boost it up again.

Were the post counts high only because of his own posts or because of the engagement his posts brought with them which made other members add more of their thoughts to a discussion?

 

[ClicketyKat]

Were the post counts high only because of his own posts or because of the engagement his posts brought with them which made other members add more of their thoughts to a discussion?

I'm not quite sure. I think at Christianity Haven that we tend to consider our active members to be a big family. Most of us have known each other online for a decade or so, and I think when one goes away, the others feel a sense of loss, even if the person deserves to be banned.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

To me, this would be a poor choice for staff to ban the member for just a singular topic or debate, even more so for a debate topic on a heated issue. Granted, there are times were things start to lose their purpose and devolve into personal attacks and such, but most of the time, these types of conversations are healthy for a community. I was mostly referring to members who cause topics to turn into drama as a normal and create issues where no issues should exist as a normal, for example, when a member jumps into something like a counting game and just starts personally attacking other members for things unrelated to the game simply to "create drama". Although I don't believe any single case drama would merit a ban and it would need to be a series of events that keep happening after other interventions and such.

Yup warnings and then a thread ban. If members have a tendency to cause trouble in a particular section usually politics, they should be thread banned at first at a best attempt to keep the balance