Last month I was banned from a mixed-race forum. I wrote about it here.
It took about a month for the administrator of the forum to reply to my request of an appeal. I finally received a response, and it was rejected.
After reading the e-mail, I slowly realized this is the end of my life on an online community that has meant a lot to me. In the 2 years I've been there, I've grown intellectually and emotionally in a way that I never would have in real life. But at the same time, I also feel like I've outgrown that community. I feel like I've already received the most out of it than I ever could, and if I were to stay there, it would be like a high school graduate hanging out at his old high school.
The good thing about being banned is I don't have to worry about deciding whether or not to delete my account. There are a few people there who don't like me, and there's been times when I was tempted to leave and never come back. Now, I feel like I've died in battle rather than surrendering. The people who are celebrating my ban might feel like they've won, but I too feel victorious because I stayed there as long as I could (instead of leaving voluntarily).
With the help of a forum member who doesn't dislike me, I posted a long formal goodbye to the community. If you're a member of that forum, you've probably seen it.
`
34 comments:
Touching final post.
I, for one am sorry you were forced to leave.
I liked you and am sorry to see you go. You were nice to me at a time when alot of the racist and uptight members were dicks (usually threatened males annoyed at the percieved competition). If I ever have a forum or group I will seek you out as my Grandmaster Moderator! Take care bro.
creolescience
Cristo, you can come on mixedasians
I have several comments about this ban. First it's bad to ban somebody without warning. Especially since you attended the board for many years. It just shows a total lack of respect from the mods. It really makes me think there might be a problem with this board.
Secondly, my opinion is to start thinking of a better EA board. Cause I'm getting doubtful about EAN.
Jean.
^ I highly doubt all three mods were involved with the ban.
I have a second theory, that they were worried somebody smart enough, and knowing enough EAN would find out some stuff.
Like what's going on those days. Or maybe what has been going on for a long time on EAN.
Jean
Yes, I was on the board for many years, and when I was banned, my behavior was NOTHING NEW, it was the same behavior I've had for more than a year, my behavior was not getting worse, it was THE SAME, that's why it seemed kind of silly to ban me now (and without warning).
If the mods' job is to enforce the rules, they could have done that by warning me. If you're a mod, you don't just come out of nowhere and show a member a rule he's broken...and then ban him permanently. There have been members a lot worse than me who have gotten a warning from a moderator...before getting banned. I've been on the forum for years, so I at least deserve that.
^ I agree
Hi Cristo, if you check the thread talking about your ban, you'll see I've posted that to me the reason you got banned is not clear. And your comment here makes it even more obvious there was no particular reason. And the fact it was without warning, and they answered your demand for explanation with 1 month delay !
To me it's vexatory measure, it's classical techniques to dismiss people. So what's the real reason ?
I think it has to do with the fact that lately there've been a lot of non EA new members. They don't want all that to be exposed. I'm sure some people are faking their identities either, and a 'librarian' would expose that.
To be continued.
Jean.
Actually you're right...I was banned because I know too much. Basically, they said they don't want me on the board because I know a lot about posts, threads, members, etc. Yeah, if they are trying to hide something, I likely would have exposed it. LOL.
And yes, I wasn't expecting a one-month delay.
To be fair, Iris is rarely on. That was probably the cause of the delay.
Yes, if we want to really find an explanation, that's this one, you knew too much. In fact it happens everywhere.
So the strategy is to look dumb, and pretend to be stupid, that works very often. But it takes time to master that. I'm much older that's why I say it, and still I make also a lot of mistakes.
Now, of course it would be interesting to understand exactly why the mods or owner on EAN want us to remain dumb ! And we remain unaware of how things are going on a message board.
Jean.
I'm not the only one on EAN who knows a lot about the board. A few other members also know about the history of EAN, including old posts, threads, and members. But they're more secretive about it.
I was too obvious, so the mods noticed. I guess the ones who are less obvious about their EAN knowledge are the ones who "pretend to be stupid" (as you said).
If anyone else acts like a librarian, they'll probably get banned too.
I ask myself a lot of questions concerning the board. One is that I haven't really followed the episod when Shugi and Zoff became mods. Kyuree I understand cause she has been dedicated to the board for a long time.
Also generally speaking the board sounds to me pretty much under censorship. And yes I'd be curious who exactly is 'monitoring' the board, including a deep knowledge of the posters. I'm even thinking of a text cruncher, automated bot.
I think the idea is that they don't want people staying long enough on the board, being able to understand the whole circus. Most of the members are put under stress, they don't get the attention they would deserve on any 'normal board' when posting on a topic.
Jean.
What is your theory about shugi and zoff then?
i am/i've been a member of EAN and i feel that enforcing a ban following this particular bad "joke" incident is harsh. you've committed worse infractions regarding the members' privacy before but this one, provided it really was a joke certainly did not warrant a ban. nor do i deem it to intrinsically have sufficient weight to trigger a ban for the sum of past breaches. my view on this decision is that the moderating team was pressured into it following various complaints and the deteriorating health of the community. EAN is going downhill. members are losing faith and right now it would take very little to kill it definitely. in fact i've figured out a way to do it but don't have a good enough reason. anyway, i digress. don't get me wrong. i'm certainly not trying to defend you. no doubt you were creepy. however you've opened to us in your goodbye post like never before and the the impression i got from it is that you're truly a great person deep down despite all the creepiness.
Good travels to you Sir, Cristo :-)
There's a board just started, to discuss Cristobal's ban and generally everything not really allowed on EAN.
http://freedomean.proboards98.com/index.cgi
The guy who started it, he looks real smart.
It's worth bearing in mind that an appeal will have gone to Iris, who has final say in situations like this.
^She is very rarely on EAN, so she knows little about the situation for herself. Almost everything she knows about it was told to her.
If admins are going to ban someone or appeal a ban, they should at least know for themselves what's going on. (Instead of being told the situation). They should be active on the board...being the owner/admin of a forum shouldn't be the only reason you have the final say.
If an admin knows little or nothing for themselves about what's going on, I don't see how they can be fit to make decisions like banning a long-time member without a warning. Instead, they have to make decisions based on what other members tell them...and that could potentially be biased.
^ you do have a point, however, her board her rules. Nothing you can do but abide by the decisions she makes.
How are you doing anyway?
Yes, you're right Cristobal. I think that there is some kind of moderators team that have seized power. A bit like the Soviet Bureau. Iris might have even been sequestrated.
Maybe they told her that they are the only ones to be able to manage the board. Or they use pressure on her, who knows.
Jean.
@"anonymous" above Jean: I'm doing ok thank you! School starts again for me on September 23. Until then there's not much to do. Maybe I should've been banned after Sept., so I won't be so bored now.
@Jean: Iris isn't around much, so I can't tell if she makes a good moderator/admin. She does have power over the mods, but I still think she would be more worthy of making mod decisions if she was a more active member. So she would know first-hand what's going on.
...and what about me?
EAN has gone down the tubes without me.
Banned EANers Jean+Cristobal+Jason(a.k.a. "Hapa Guru")+Infanta = The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
'Nuff said...
FreedomEAN, dead at age <2 months.
R.I.P.
lolz
LMAO
War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death r the 4 horsemen. Saw Pestilence a few days ago on FreedomEAN. Looks like Death showed up today...
I love how everyone comes to my blog after Freedom EAN gets shut down. It's like a back-up forum right here.
We are still wondering if freedomEan was shut down by the proboard staff (we don't know the reason) or hacked by a hostile hacker.
Jean.
Please any former freedomeaners post here.
rofl. experienced a little scare, didnt you?
http://support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=support&action=display&thread=1191053939&page=1
notice any little strange happenings from before the small "outtacge"? odd response from proboards, eh? just remember, there are no coincidences on the internet. just put 2-and-2 together....
Im luvin this
"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of internet forums."
^Remember me?
^
http://eurasiannation.proboards48.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=5793&page=492#325780
You bet! LMAO! @:
http://support.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=support&action=display&thread=210445&page=1
You commit an error. I can prove it.
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