In short, there is no "3 strikes" rule. That's a convenient number posters use. It's not a guideline moderators use.

Some folks think that if they get banned 3 times, for any amount of time be it 5 minutes or 1 week, that on their 3rd modsmacking, it's automatically perm.

Nope. Not so easy. It's nowhere near that clearcut.


Insta-Permaban:
There are some instances when a poster does something so heinous, its an instantaneous perm ban. There are also instances when we can tell a poster is there to cause problems for other posters - they've arrived on the scene for the purpose of causing mischief and discord. I won't go into a detailed list of what these things might be, but you can imagine the depths to which some people will plunge in the online world. Some folks just prove they don't need to be part of the community.

Moderator Discretion:
Some moderators, believe it or not, don't perm ban. You just get banned. They may warn you once, and if you screw up again, you're out. All of us discussed these things back when the "old new" crew (Mike, Myself, Tosche, the ellcrys, .Flight, etc etc) and we came to the understanding that different mods have different methods and different preferences. Turns out that when we came around, the "temp ban" thing had not always been embraced, and to this day, continues to be a matter of choice. What we strive to do, however, is remain consistant within our own methodologies. I still use temp bans. In fact, I use them in a different way than the convention in the past, as other mods do. We'll get to that in a second.

Warnings:
It depends on how serious the problem is. Some issues get a single warning, such as posting profanity. If they continue, it has to stop immediately. Some issues get plenty of warnings...but then if they continue to do something after plenty of warnings, no one can claim ignorance. Generally we all try to warn folks before they get into a lengthy ban situation, but sometimes action has to be taken immediately.

Temp Bans:
All of us try to fit any disciplinary action to the the problem. If its someone who gets into a blatant flamefest because of a heated argument, well, sometimes human nature gets the better of us. It depends on if they were goaded or not, or if they started attacking someone. Temporary bans arrange themselves (not necessarily by any higher plan, they just do) into a few varieities ranging from the more common place 3 days to 1 week...more rarely they may be 2 weeks, a month, and in some cases up to 3 months. It really depends on if that poster has ever shown any responsibility to their community. It's a judgement call - we look these situations as possibilities to bring people back, especially if they were "momentary lapses" of judgement. That being said, some folks can only have so many "momentary lapses."

Quick Bans:
Here's what a lot of people don't understand - lots of times we feel the need to take a poster offline and redirect them in Blog or Forum Feedback. We've got to get them to stop exhibiting a behavior, and explain why it's wrong. Locking their account to have a chat in Blog or Forum Feedback is not too serious an affair unless-

a) it happens a lot, then it could go to the next level, whatever that might be, but most likely a longer temp ban, or;

b) the poster refuses redirection on a matter and asserts they will continue exhibiting a behavior regardless of moderator warning

I personally don't count these "chats" as anything other than going offline - we have to force the poster away from their present activity. It also is better to do this than for a moderator to have to hijack a thread or a blog to talk to a poster about their behavior. This is especially true with blogs, because people only have 50 replies - it's not fair for a mod to take them up talking about something unrelated to the entry. But they really shouldn't happen a lot, and we can only hope the poster gets the point.

So the thing to realize is two-fold:

I. There is no "3 strikes" rule. That's a myth. If folks do something 3 times, and get banned for it, its probably because they were showing a pattern that meant they weren't going to stop regardless of what a mod or the rules said.

II. Don't do things that test the theory. It's not that hard - be respectful, be courteous, think before you say things, don't flame, don't troll (which includes behavior that is antagonistic, harassing or offensive to others knowing it will receive a negative reaction), don't sock, don't spam (which includes both self-promoting messages and overly repetiitive messages, or may just include posting nonsense to take up space).

Moderators work to warn posters when they are getting out of line. The admins want us to warn folks, and we want to also. If we warn people, its a lot more proactive than just "tossing folks out the SW.com airlock". Sometimes the situation calls for them to pull a poster aside to do so. Sometimes a more serious message has to be sent to get their attention on an important matter. And unfortunately, sometimes we can tell there's no hope, and the poster is not in the community for positive interaction.

The good news is, a great majority of us are here to abide by the rules, and to be a positive addition to our community. Sometimes folks need correcting, sometimes disputes need tending to, sometimes human nature or different views cause people to do things that are frowned upon within our terms of use. That's why we have moderators.

Remember, moderators use first and foremost their own judgement, and their own methodology when having to deal with problems. We do consult one another, however, and we do act as a behind the scenes check and balance. My cohorts can attest to that.

And also remember when you speak to your fellow posters that if you ever have to ask yourself "am I breaking rules here?" or "am I about to offend a lot of people?', and you you're not sure, then you probably are, and its not a good idea to proceed. It's not always a free for all - you have to be responsible for what you say to others.

In that way, you are your own moderators, your own filters - police yourselves first and you never have to even see us here in the Blue Mod Group as anyone other than fellow posters and fans.

As always, you can ask questions about modeation and administration of the blogs in Blog Feedback.

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