banned.. but now i'm back...

ELECTRIXON

first off, thanks Darragh for lifting the ban on me here.

the explanation was for spamming about a gig "le petit orb" back in 2005.. and i got banned in 2011! i don't even see this thread in my CP but on a quick search here, i can see these posts have been now removed.. (i can see them in a list but can't access them) i don't really think this was spam but that's not really up to me to decide. back in 2005 before the days of facebook etc boards was a place where people could let people know about upcoming events etc.

but that's not the issue really. admittedly i don't really use boards that much. this year i came back on here as i was interested in the non-news of CACI and the Irish Census.. it is a story i have been working on since and at the time i was keen to engage in discussion on forums such as this about this issue.

when i went to log in at the beginning of April to further engage in this discussion here i was greeted by a ban. this was a bit of a surprise and my first thoughts were that i was being silenced. this would fit the experience i have had with the media here in general on this issue. when i raised the question of the ban in the prison forum, the moderator LoLth simply said "le petit orb?" and would not engage with me further on this.

so today i asked boards.ie on twitter about this and the result of which was a lifting of the ban. (i wasn't getting anywhere in prison).

so why am i posting this here? we'll i would like to engage some of the moderators on here about banning policy. the way i see it is the anyone can use spamming / trolling as an excuse to silence a point of view you don't agree with. this happens. i cannot say that this is the case with my banning but it certainly raised my eyebrows.

it is my opinion that power corrupts and this can even occur with moderators getting some authority and abusing it. although i don't post much here i do observe threads of interest to me and often see mods belittling people.

boards is really a great place for discussion on a wide variety of topics. i really do hope i am wrong and this was a mistake.

my definition of spam is : comments and email messages linking to websites selling pills to increase penis size etc. the dictionary definition is below..




spam |spam|
noun
1 ( Spam) trademark a canned meat product made mainly from ham.
2 irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of recipients.
verb [ trans. ]
send the same message indiscriminately to (large numbers of recipients) on the Internet.
DERIVATIVES
spammer noun
ORIGIN 1930s: apparently from sp(iced h)am.

Silverfish

Actually, you were banned in March 2011 for posts you made on 29/03/2011 when you posted the same post, including a link to a site with your content on it, in After Hours (twice) , Clare, Politics, and News and Media.


I wasn't the admin who banned you, nor did I see your Prison thread however, so I can't answer for that, but in my opinion you were banned correctly.

Insect Overlord

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

the explanation was for spamming about a gig "le petit orb" back in 2005.. and i got banned in 2011! i don't even see this thread in my CP but on a quick search here, i can see these posts have been now removed.. (i can see them in a list but can't access them) i don't really think this was spam but that's not really up to me to decide. back in 2005 before the days of facebook etc boards was a place where people could let people know about upcoming events etc.

but that's not the issue really. admittedly i don't really use boards that much. this year i came back on here as i was interested in the non-news of CACI and the Irish Census.. it is a story i have been working on since and at the time i was keen to engage in discussion on forums such as this about this issue.

when i went to log in at the beginning of April to further engage in this discussion here i was greeted by a ban. this was a bit of a surprise and my first thoughts were that i was being silenced.

You spammed an event about six years ago. Well, it would have been spam in any other forum, but I think some of the Music fora allow for announcements about gigs and events. The Music mods might be able to fill in the blanks for me there.

Your first post in six years was to link to your own website. I'm surprised you were allowed to use this account again, to be honest.

I see you're also accusing mods of belittling posters. These can be dealt with using the "report post" function. Making vague comments about that behaviour isn't helpful. The phrase "The plural of anecdote is not data" comes to mind.

Only a very select few who the administrators have deemed appropriate can issue site-bans. Looking for regular moderators to engage in discussion on why you got site-banned won't change you being site-banned. The suggestion that it was done to silence/censor you is way off.

Gordon

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i don't really think this was spam but that's not really up to me to decide.

Who is it up to?

Darragh

Silverfish wrote: »

Actually, you were banned in March 2011 for posts you made on 29/03/2011 when you posted the same post, including a link to a site with your content on it, in After Hours (twice) , Clare, Politics, and News and Media.


I wasn't the admin who banned you, nor did I see your Prison thread however, so I can't answer for that, but in my opinion you were banned correctly.

I didn't see those posts/threads referred to above but if I had, I wouldn't have lifted the ban.

Gordon

Darragh wrote: »

I didn't see those posts/threads referred to above but if I had, I wouldn't have lifted the ban.

That'll be the new search not showing deleted posts

El Weirdo

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

so why am i posting this here? we'll i would like to engage some of the moderators on here about banning policy. the way i see it is the anyone can use spamming / trolling as an excuse to silence a point of view you don't agree with. this happens. i cannot say that this is the case with my banning but it certainly raised my eyebrows.

Darragh wrote: »

I didn't see those posts/threads referred to above but if I had, I wouldn't have lifted the ban.

ELECTRIXON

thank you Silverfish for clarification... now at least I know it was to do with the Census issue..

actually, i requested that some of those thread were merged.. (one of the mods said he hadn't got the power) i posted the same thing in other threads as not everyone was on the same page, so to speak.

what i posted was of interest to the people discussing the issue... the link to my website was relevant. i didn't realise boards was insular regarding off forum content... do you really frown on people taking the conversation elsewhere?

what happen on boards stays on boards?!

---

(@ Gordon re: "Who is it up to?"..... it's obviously up to you the moderators to define what is spam)

("I didn't see those posts/threads referred to above but if I had, I wouldn't have lifted the ban."

Darragh.. I'm sorry you feel that way)

Zaph

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

what i posted was of interest to the people discussing the issue... the link to my website was relevant. i didn't realise boards was insular regarding off forum content... do you really frown on people taking the conversation elsewhere?

what happen on boards stays on boards?!

As per the Boards Terms of Use:

You agree NOT to use Boards.ie to:

* post irrelevant Material, repeatedly post the same or similar Material or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Boards.ie servers or infrastructure

You posted links to your blog in four different forums. This has nothing to do with Boards being insular and all to do with you spamming the site with links to your blog. We don't allow that either incidentally.

ELECTRIXON

i don't see it what is posted "irrelevant". i don't see it as "spamming"

why don't you allow people to link to their blog?

what about signatures?

my point is that these rules are being used to silence opinion. all i was doing was bringing information to people's attention who were obviously interested in it..

Insect Overlord

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i don't see it what is posted "irrelevant". i don't see it as "spamming"

why don't you allow people to link to their blog?

what about signatures?

my point is that these rules are being used to silence opinion. all i was doing was bringing information to people's attention who were obviously interested in it..

If you want to give your opinion on something, you should at the very least make the effort to post your opinion in the forum.
Otherwise you're just saying "Hey, I wrote this, come look at it somewhere else!" That's not how a forum works.

ELECTRIXON

Insect Overlord wrote: »

If you want to give your opinion on something, you should at the very least make the effort to post your opinion in the forum.
Otherwise you're just saying "Hey, I wrote this, come look at it somewhere else!" That's not how a forum works.

yes.. that i did. you are assuming i did not.

Zaph

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i don't see it what is posted "irrelevant". i don't see it as "spamming"

You posted it multiple times, that's spamming.

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

why don't you allow people to link to their blog?

Boards is not here to be used as a promotional tool to attract visitors to your website, whether it's commercial, a blog or anything else really.

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

what about signatures?

Once you reach 25 posts you can include a link to your blog in your sig, as long as it's clear what you're linking to. The sig rules can be found here.

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

my point is that these rules are being used to silence opinion. all i was doing was bringing information to people's attention who were obviously interested in it..

Do you actually think we've nothing better to be doing than going around censoring people? The posts were deleted and you were banned because you broke the site rules, not because anyone was trying to silence you. I've no idea what you even posted, and tbh couldn't care less unless it was going to get Boards into some sort of legal trouble. All I'd care about in this case is that you cross-posted the same thing on four different forums, and I'd imagine that's all the admin who banned you cared about too. It's one thing bringing something to peoples' attention in a single thread, it's another posting it all over the place. If we allowed that Boards would quickly become nothing but multiple posts and people would stop using the site, which is why we're so strict on this.

Insect Overlord

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

yes.. that i did. you are assuming i did not.

You posted this in the Clare forum:

hi.. i've been looking into this a lot over the past couple of weeks... my findings are here on this site http://<snipped>.net please have a look and share.. also check out the video of an action that took place in Dublin on Saturday.

I can't see your other deleted posts (I only mod the Midwest fora) but I'd imagine they were similarly content-free.

ELECTRIXON

ok. i guess boards.ie is not for me. i was not using it as a promotional tool.. i was merely bringing an issue to people's attention.. i've been making a documentary on the subject and figured that boards.ie is a good place to find people who might want to help me with that.

there were multiple threads which were not merged. i felt the need to copy and paste a bit.. sorry about that.

it's a pity that your rules mean so much to you. i had no bad intent (certainly nothing commercial... i lose rather than make money in my line of work!) and am not a wilful spammer.

dr.bollocko

After Hours Charter wrote: »

Spammers aren't people. They're scum. Any posts containing advertising will be deleted and the poster will have their access to this forum removed. If you wish to advertise on boards.ie please contact hello@boards.ie. If you ignore this rule you may be banned from boards.ie outright.

.

Silverfish

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

ok. i guess boards.ie is not for me. i was not using it as a promotional tool.. i was merely bringing an issue to people's attention.. i've been making a documentary on the subject and figured that boards.ie is a good place to find people who might want to help me with that.

there were multiple threads which were not merged. i felt the need to copy and paste a bit.. sorry about that.

We don't generally merge 6 threads across 5 forums just to accommodate one poster who wants to access the userbase for their own site / agenda.

LoLth

sorry that was my mistake, I missed the deleted posts when I searched for your posts to see why you were banned.

by the time you responded the thread had drifted a good bit off the first page and while I do check past prison threads to make sure I dont miss responses, yours was over a week old at that stage and I dont check that far back every day (about once a week).

ELECTRIXON

i was not advertising. i have nothing to sell.

i'll get my coat.

El Weirdo

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i was not advertising. i have nothing to sell.

i'll get my coat.

One doesn't need to be selling something to be advertising.

looksee

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i was not advertising. i have nothing to sell.

i'll get my coat.

Bye

AckwelFoley

Rules not always about opression. They're about the community, and saving the world.


I see rules as something for the members that in many cases are at the wishes of the members

I dont want to be called a bollox on here-we'll create a no abuse rule

I dont want to see people flogging their wares or agenda - ok, we'll create a no spam rule

I dont want to see the "Know your nerds" turn into rate me.com - ok no chat allowed post pics only

So you see, most rules are there because most members want them, and other rules are put in place to protect the interests of the forums existance, which indirectly is in the members interests... no rules - no forum - no forums - more porn - more porn - sticky socks - sticky socks - more washing - more washing - more detergent - more detergent - earth dies

Dravokivich

Never took you for an environmentalist Snyper.

Nodin

Dravokivich wrote: »

Never took you for an environmentalist Snyper.

He's looking at the full consequences.

...earth dies - no porn. No porn - sad Snyper.

Cabaal

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i don't see it what is posted "irrelevant". i don't see it as "spamming"
.

People that go around posting links to their own content/business etc rarely see it as spam, but then it is despite what you my claim the no-spam rule is being used for.

it's a pity that your rules mean so much to you.

As I'm sure you'll agree rules are important and it would be completely unfair to allow one poster to affectively "spam" links to numerous forums while not allowing others.

Overheal

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

it's a pity that your rules mean so much to you.

I agree!

Well guys I'm off to chase a fifth of captain morgan and race through a couple red lights at 110mph without a seatbelt while talking on the phone with my headlights off.

In all fairness though if you want a lawless place to advertise or recruit I direct you to /b/

Sully

ELECTRIXON wrote: »

i was not advertising. i have nothing to sell.

i'll get my coat.

I think you may be treated a little harsh in this thread, while the point is still being made, so ill take a stab at trying the customer-friendly approach (Its a similar environment) to explain things.

Basically, Boards.ie is and should only be known as an internet discussion forum. Its where people come along, post their thoughts on various topics in certain forums relevant to that topic, and chatter away within the various Site Guidelines and individual Forum Charters (here, just where specific forums may have something that applies in that forum only).

Its not an online directory to post links to other sites. It does allow advertising, but its commercial and you must pay.

Why? Well, Boards needs money to survive. Think about it. Think about the huge number of people posting on the forum. We need some machine that is capable of hosting all that data, all the constant pressure etc. This isn't cheap, and Boards has to pay for staff etc. So businesses can advertise and interact on the forum, once an agreement is reached with the Boards Team (hello@boards.ie for Business Reps posting here and sales@boards.ie for simply advertising). If they don't attempt at speaking with the team first and come head first onto the site and plugging away their business or product - they will be removed because its going to annoy those who do pay, and its abusing the site in general as its not meant to be a directory full of links or products for sale.

So knowing the above, and applying it to your situation. The mods/admins who keep the site clean, a decent place for discussion and free from spam (which doesn't have to be commercial, as spam is defined as "unsolicited bulk messages" on Wikipedia) spotted a poster repeating the same post in forums that were not relevant to the topic at hand. In addition, the user was plugging away a link to his blog that was discussing it.

What comes to their mind? A user with no intention or little interest in using the forums as a place of discussion, and instead is attempting to tap into the large user base and direct people to discuss the topic elsewhere. Hence, taking from Boards and resulting in your ban being applied.

Now you may feel hard done by because you didn't feel it was spam. But to most other people, staff or otherwise, it was. You were plugging the same message across multiple forums - that triggers the definition of spam.

Sure there was a breakdown in communication in the Prison forum, but these things happen but you got it sorted via Twitter and Darragh removed the ban. Why? Because Boards isn't evil or self motivated or interested. Assuming a mistake was made, he removed the ban. Generally in your circumstances, you only get back in once an agreement is reached not to repeat the same style of posting that resulted in you being removed in the first place.

Going forward, remember how I described Boards and make sure to read the Site Guidelines and Forum Charters. Post with common sense being applied if you can, and like thousands of other users you will be posting away happy as Larry (or happy in your nappy as the song goes ). More contributors are always wanted and welcomed, so don't run away and post if you want to join in the discussion and get involved on what is Irelands largest discussion forum