Have you ever revoked a permanent ban?

[Heatman]

The two banning level in any forum management is temporary and permanent ban. It's always very difficult to strike a permanent ban on any forum member unless it's very obvious the member's actions warranted it.

Have you ever considered revoking a permanent ban issued to any member in your forum at any point, maybe after a couple of years?

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

Yes, one guy kept pleading and sweet talking us into letting him back. He'd behave for a while and then end up banned again.

 

[Darth Cognus]

With success and with failure. Attitude on appeal says a lot. Not all permabans may be equal either. Mistakes of childhood, bad situation vs very specific irredeemable circumstances. I'm more confident if I see true reform in an adjacent community. If I see the same crap in a different place then the response to appeal is 'go away'. Either way the otus is on you to demonstrate change, not to say it, and preferably somewhere else. Eventually you might have to ignore tragic appealers (generally in a broader community) who appeal again and again and after countless explanations they never get it.

This corresponds with 'sneaking back in'. On one hand that's evasion and blows away your case. On the other hand if the return is absent of the issues that resulted in permaban and I never notice, I guess that's a win. If I do connect the dots, there is no issue and I would consider an appeal, I might just respect the fresh start. But that's a dangerous game and more than not it's blown very quickly, along with it any chance of appeal.

Then there's this one dude who has been trying over a decade on one board. Long into the 'ignore/go away' stage, obviously...

 

[Empire]

Once banned you stay banned, no messing around. If you ask to be unbanned it is an NO, if you end up getting unbanned then good however down that road they get themselves banned again...

 

[Bluezone777]

I don't believe in permanent bans as I believe people can change and should be afforded a second chance if they demonstrate they are on the path to changing themselves for the better.

Case in point, I put forth the one and only ban that Rapture ever had for a genuine member's misbehavior when he was caught with a second account in which he claimed to be a female. He even went so far as taking his sister's photos and using them as his own to convince people of who he claimed he was. As a result, all of his accounts were banned. Why I did it was far more then just the forum and the community's protection from someone who would abuse trust in such a manner. It was to help reinforce that this destructive behavior and the mindset that decided it was a good idea to do it needed to end and he would have no place here until it did. My goal was to nip in the bud this destructive behaivor that would not only hurt him but his sister and even his entire family if they were to catch wind of what he was doing. I was banning him for his own benefit as much as everyone else's because I didn't want a community in which you couldn't trust the people in it to be honest with each other and themselves nor did I want someone who thinks he can do this behaivor and not have there be consequences for it as I have an opportunity to end it here rather then let it fester until it becomes both a bigger problem and a problem for someone else to deal with when I have a chance to deal with it here and now.

The way I see it, I rather give a second chance to someone who ultimately never deserved it then to deny someone a second chance who deserved to get one.

 

[Kyng]

Only once (coincidentally, it was for the same offence of pretending to be a girl).

Fortunately, it was successful. Initially, they were placed on probation - so they'd be banned again if they started causing trouble. But, they kept their nose clean; got through their probation period; and never created any serious issues after that.

They eventually left because they grew apart from the rest of the community - but the separation was reasonably amicable, and the reasons for it had nothing to do with the reasons why they were initially banned.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I've never lifted a ban from any banned members on any of my communities. If they're banned it's for a good reason, I only ban if they are a spam bot or broke one of my more serious rules like harassment or doxxing rules.

 

[TimelessSailor]

Yes, and I do not recommend it...

 

[Arantor]

When people show you who they are the first time, believe them.

 

[TimelessSailor]

When people show you who they are the first time, believe them.

Unfortunately it's taken me decades to learn this.

 

[Cedric]

Unfortunately it's taken me decades to learn this.

At least you learnt. Some people never will.