Kalamos said:
Odd you say that. On tmf they have a different way to deal with unpleasant comments and flames.
I can say it is not a way I particularly like.
Ness, btw, are you here to stay? Are you really back or just paying a visit?
Here is what it takes to get banned from the TMF. The basic rules are the same as they are here, but unfortunately in my opinion we are far more lenient there
than one warning and then you can get banned without any further. I wish we could be that strict. LOL
Banning users and our philosophy about it.
"Why?" is a question that we hear a lot from members of the forum.
Why was a post edited? Why was so-and-so banned? Why was a post deleted? Why was a person kicked out of chat?
We feel that it's time to take a moment to explain the reasons why this forum is here, and part of how we make choices that lead to the "Why's" above.
Here is our basic mission statement:
The TMF is a community for any person who has any form of interest in tickling, ranging from the smallest curiosity, to the deepest involvement, to come and be with others of a like mindset. All are free to join in, and participate as much, or as little, as they like within the community guidelines.
Our basic guideline is the Golden Rule, "Treat other members with respect."
Sounds simple doesn't it? And for the most part it is. Thousands of people come and ask questions, share media, chat and enjoy themselves with no problems.
But within any large group of people, one will always find some who take issue with how things are done, or are simply unable to handle themselves in interaction with other people for personal reasons. And when that happens, we the moderators sometimes have to do things to preserve the integrity of the forum. So here are some questions we frequently encounter, and some explanations and answers.
Q: Why was a post edited or removed?
A: Most likely it was for one of three reasons
1. The posted material is proscribed here on the forum.
For example copyrighted material that does not belong to the poster. We prevent the sharing of copyrighted material simply because we see it as theft. Producers have labored to create the material, and deserve to be able to profit from it. We will not be a party in the loss of income to those people.
Or
The post could involve adult/minor interaction. We are sensitive to the majority of our members desire to not encounter material that involves minors here. Many of our members see tickling as a very sexual thing, and simply put, for them, the idea of minors mixing into that is very uncomfortable. We also avoid possible legal issues by being careful in this area. Under current US law we are not mandated to do this, but feel that it's the correct action to take.
2. The poster has failed to show the minimum level of respect for a fellow member of the community that we feel is proper for a healthy and positive community.
This behavior can take many forms. Direct insults. Name calling, disparaging groups, and so on. We try to make this place one that is as welcoming to all as we can, and such behavior drives people away. We value the entire groups sense of comfort to participate, without fear of being insulted.
Or
3. The posts are Spam.
Posting the same thing to many places in the forum is clutter. There is no need for such, because most posts have an obviously correct forum for them to go in, and we'll remove all but one instance of a multi-forum post.
Q: Why was (blank) banned??
There are a lot of different types of bans here.
A member can be banned from the chat room
A member can be banned from specific forums
A member can be banned from posting on all of the forum
A member can be banned from seeing the forum
Each is a stronger and stronger step. We take none of them lightly.
Here are some things that will get a member a full chat or forum ban instantly depending on where they do it.
Making threats of any kind against a member or the forum.
Actually attacking a member or the forum. This most often occurs as Spam, either chat Spam or posting Spam.
Sounds reasonable doesn't it? If someone came to your party and started harassing your guests or breaking your things, or threatening to do those things, you'd want them to stop. The TMF is our internet home, and we feel the same way about it.
How does a member get a partial ban?
Harass a group of members, attack one member directly on a regular basis, or keep posting in violation of the Golden rule, Or continue to repost material that we have removed once.
In most of these cases, we warn the member with a e-mail or Private Message, and only act if they repeat the behavior. Some people get more chances than they might deserve. "Why do you let so-and-so do blank?" is another why that we hear a lot. We do try to be as lenient as possible. We dislike banning people, because it's not a positive for anyone, including us. Most people have bad days and weeks on occasion, so we cut as much slack as we can. But some prove over the long term to just be troublemakers who like to be rude or stir things up. Those folks start to find their posts vanish quietly.
Still some people will push until we do ban them.
Some examples:
Recently we had a member who liked to insult and harass groups. A month before their banning they chased a homosexual member off the forum. They were warned and asked to follow forum rules.
The event that resulted in banning came from bringing up a topic in every possible thread they could find, once the first thread they had brought the subject up in was closed due to rule violations. On the day of their banning they posted to the better part of two dozen threads, in each, raising the same topic. It had long since stopped being a valid question of curiosity as they claimed, but was now an insult being posted simply to annoy. Why did they do it? We have no clue, other then they wanted to see how far they could push something that they knew annoyed some of our member base. Well they found the wall, and their ability to post here was removed. They could still look as much as they liked. The member had been warned about this behavior by PM on forum, and also by e-mail. They chose to ignore several requests to stop. So our action was not a surprise from the blue.
In another recent case, one member issued a death threat against a moderator in the chat room. This got them banned from chat. At a later point, for some reason, another member began to Spam the forum with posts that related to this event. Most were negative, and insulting of our choice to chat-ban the member (and other ID's of that member, he had over twenty of them) who made the threat. A valid opinion, but not one that we'll tolerate when posted six times in rude and insulting ways in ten minutes. When a member manages to develop a dozen post reports in a period of a half hour we turn their ability to post off. It's just prudent to do so.
This is a community that will welcome those who want to bring positive things to it, and participate as mature adults who know the difference between debating a point and attacking the person who made that point. Some say that one can't say negative things here. That is not true, and any examination of the forum will prove it. What you can't do is be disrespectful of the other people who share the forum with you. It's a fine point. But a significant one.
So tell me sir, what should we be doing differently? I would really honestly like your views on this,
Ray
