I'm sick and tired of macrumors forum…

[Ben J.]

…and its moderators suspending me for breaking the forum rules. For stupid, silly little reasons that I won't go into here, because I post this not to argue about it, I just want to explain why you won't be seeing me much on the forums from now on. If you're a moderator, I'm sure you will be able to find the reasons for my suspensions, and what posts triggered them.

I feel I'm being treated like a child and I feel unwelcome. Anyone who has seen my posts in the forums I'm sure will agree with me that I have always been polite, positive and constructive. I have many years of experience and knowledge that I've tried to share with the community, but this last suspension was the last straw.

I will no longer participate in the forums like I have before. IMO, it's macrumors and its forum users' loss, not mine.

I've never seen a forum run in such an authoritarian way.

 

[russell_314]

…and its moderators suspending me for breaking the forum rules. For stupid, silly little reasons that I won't go into here, because I post this not to argue about it, I just want to explain why you won't be seeing me much on the forums from now on. If you're a moderator, I'm sure you will be able to find the reasons for my suspensions, and what posts triggered them.

I feel I'm being treated like a child and I feel unwelcome. Anyone who has seen my posts in the forums I'm sure will agree with me that I have always been polite, positive and constructive. I have many years of experience and knowledge that I've tried to share with the community, but this last suspension was the last straw.

I will no longer participate in the forums like I have before. IMO, it's macrumors and its forum users' loss, not mine.

I've never seen a forum run in such an authoritarian way.

Don’t take it personally. I got zapped for a post days after I made it and it wasn’t really that serious. Mods are just people so sometimes they have bad days.

 

[I7guy]

Maybe instead of ranting, figure out what the issue(s) is/are with your posts and correct that issue.

If they were minor issues off-topic, one word posts etc as you say the post would be removed. Insults, trolling, political posts, hate speech etc would be the big ones. And if there is a consistent pattern the suspensions escalate.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Over 9K posts from me and I can't recall a rebuke from a moderator. I must be doing something wrong.

 

[I7guy]

(not directed at anyone) maybe don’t troll or insult. Reread your post to make sure some off the cuff remark doesn’t come across as trolling or insulting.

 

[Lioness~]

I've been suspended once - what I learned was: don't post anything from any emotional view, whatsoever.
If you are emotional when writing a post, fine, leave it, but don't post it.
Go do something else, and if you in the next few days still feel you want to post what you wrote, go ahead. But usually you don't.
Some people think that's an accomplishment to post more on MR - it isn't - it's about your mind, and how you use it to navigate in life.
You are not your mind, you are the consciousness behind it - that is a lot more interesting to explore, then definding the little mind.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Don’t take moderation so personally.

I got smacked for essentially bumping a thread where OP had not provided a “still no news” update. I didn’t know it was against the rules. Ok. Noted. Sorry.

Sure, you feel like you’re being singled out, but I run a forum, too, and have to moderate and rules are rules.

Participate or don’t. Contribute or don’t. No one will miss you. And you’ll forget about your non-compliance and go back to enjoying or not enjoying the content of people’s reactions to your posts.

Over 9K posts from me and I can't recall a rebuke from a moderator. I must be doing something wrong.

Reported.

 

[Regulus67]

No one will miss you.

I do miss a few users that were kicked out, because I found their postings mostly interesting and valuable.
But I have no idea what caused the suspensions, of course.
One is still suspended, whom I asked a moderator if I had caused him to be suspended. But I was told that I had not.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If a forum member gets a friendly reminder or official warning from the mod team, it will specifically note the offending post and the reason(s) why the post violated the forum rule(s). Subsequent mod intervention for the same or similar offenses can lead to a temporary suspension. And if the forum member does not take heed of repeated mod action , the member can be banned. If a member has a question about specific mod action to their personal posting action, said member is encouraged to contact the admin staff (noted in the PM from the mod staff) for further clarity and or review of action taken by the mod team.

Members are not targeted by the mod team nor is any decision by the mod done off-collar or in secret of others on the staff.

Change the behavior to match the rules. Very simple.

 

[iHorseHead]

I've never seen a forum run in such an authoritarian way.

Really? I can think of plenty of worse forums + Reddit. I've been banned from some Subreddits even before I finish typing, but I agree a little with you there.
I got a warning for posting a screenshot of what Copilot told me about some trojan viruses that Surfshark found. I think the warning was uncalled for since I pointed it out that this is what the AI told me and wanted to confirm the information. I understand that it was against the rule (also a new rule that I didn't know about, not an excuse), but I pointed it out that this was by the AI. Not really sure why there's any need to be that strict. Especially now that Apple AI is a thing, but I'm not going to argue with anyone over that.

 

[triptolemus]

@I7guy, are you MacRumors staff?

 

[I7guy]

@I7guy, are you MacRumors staff?

No not staff, just a careful reader.

 

[dlopan]

This forum is privately owned so you can bitch about things but can't sue them and if they ban you permanently your banned.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I do wish there was more of a bias towards throwing folks in the "warning / penalty box" for shorter time periods to try to correct behavior in a more "nudge" sort of way, but keep the discourse going.

Even folks I wildly disagree with, I don't think should be suspended for days/weeks/permanently unless it's really an egregious violation or massive trolling, etc

I also feel like new accounts should be a bit more restricted and/or moderated more strongly if they run afoul of rules quickly. It seems like such a consistent and easy troll and astroturf method (new account creation).

The amount of wildly overenthusiastic (unrealistically so) Apple defense (AVP/AI/etc) that comes from totally new or "suddenly active after 13 years" accounts is quite suspicious at times.

 

[Weaselboy]

@turbineseaplane what you described is pretty much how things work now. Typically, a member will get a reminder about a rule violation, then if that is ignored and the same rule violated repeatedly in a short period of time, things get ramped up to a short suspension. Then gradually longer suspensions if the problem continues.

This varies a bit depending on the rule. For example a couple LOL posts (frivolous post) will be a slower escalation than really nasty insults.

 

[Weaselboy]

Moderator Note:

A handful of posts discussing specific moderation have been removed.

It is fine to discuss general moderation policy issues in this thread, but if you want to discuss why a specific post was moderated, you will need to waive your right to privacy in the thread. This way a staff member can review the records and explain the moderation.

Obviously you cannot waive another member's right to privacy, so if you wish to discuss moderation involving a forum member other than yourself, the involved member must waive in the thread.

 

[splifingate]

See you around Ben

 

[I7guy]

I do wish there was more of a bias towards throwing folks in the "warning / penalty box" for shorter time periods to try to correct behavior in a more "nudge" sort of way, but keep the discourse going.

Even folks I wildly disagree with, I don't think should be suspended for days/weeks/permanently unless it's really an egregious violation or massive trolling, etc

I also feel like new accounts should be a bit more restricted and/or moderated more strongly if they run afoul of rules quickly. It seems like such a consistent and easy troll and astroturf method (new account creation).

Wet finger in the air, I do feel that recently joined new members, as opposed to "newbies" who have been signed-up for many, many years, have a higher probability of running afoul of the rules.

The amount of wildly overenthusiastic (unrealistically so) Apple defense (AVP/AI/etc) that comes from totally new or "suddenly active after 13 years" accounts is quite suspicious at times.

This isn't surprising, MR has over a million members. Some members are very long standing members, but seemingly are "newbies". I can understand someone joining up and browsing but not posting regularly and do not think it's suspicious at all. I do find suspicious the number of wildly critical (unrealistically so) posts against Apple by "newbies", who have recently joined. Obviously nothing can be proven, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking are people that devious, in which they would create a throw-away MR account just to post a few negative and inflammatory posts?

There is that commonality about suspicious posts. You are suspicious of the overenthusiastic posts and I'm suspicious of the overcritical posts.

 

[turbineseaplane]

There is that commonality about suspicious posts. You are suspicious of the overenthusiastic posts and I'm suspicious of the overcritical posts.

I find overly enthusiastic posts more suspicious for one reason -- one I think you might agree has at least some merit

It's well established that folks who have things to complain about are far more likely to spend the time to log on/register/post a negative review than folks who are happy and going on about their business.

i.e. I basically expect negative things to feel like they are posted about more ... as more people are more inclined to go spend the time to bother sharing their negative experiences as they are frustrated and seeking an outlet for it.

vs.. when folks are spending inordinate amounts of time defending everything Apple does with AI or stock buybacks or CSAM scanning... (insert whatever that is fair to have some qualms about) ... it comes across as maybe just a bit of protectionism for a company that we all have long term very strong feelings about, many very positive -- and many more mixed in the Tim Cook era.

Basically I think it starts to devolve into arguing with specific users back and forth and not about the topics. I include myself in this and I've tried very hard of late to give the benefit of the doubt and seek out the points of agreement in posts I otherwise might disagree with.

I suspect if commenters far on the negative/positive side were fully masked and nobody knew "who" was saying "what" ... we all would react with a bit less aggressiveness in return/defense of our positions.

That aside, I do agree with you that it's fair to be suspicious of anything far in either direction, especially if it comes with what seems like overreaching veracity.

None if this is as "awful" or "amazing" as posts often seem to feel like

I sort of went to the mat on that with a user the other day who was claiming, essentially, that they've never had any issues, no niggles, not a SINGLE PROBLEM ... EVER .. .with ANY Apple product or experience

That's the sort of the position that, I'm sorry, simply doesn't pass the reality test and strays the opinions into hyperbole territory, and feels like the user is just trying to "be right" and "win" whatever is being debated.

 

[shadowboi]

Been suspended 2 or maybe 3 times. All for my own fault, I said few “bad words” here, some politics there and then got the bans, fully agreed with mods decisions and took that “time off” as a rest😂

I am not trying to revert your decision in any way, but just believe me: Macrumors is an island of freedom compared to ANY tech website out here maybe with the exception of GSM Arena (where you have ancient comment system and cannot track your discussions so precisely).

Techcrunch, Thenextweb, Gizmodo, Theverge, CNET, Wired – this is the list of tech websites who implement some of the most UGLIEST and silliest banning tactics such as shadowbanning and IP bans. Others have Disqus as commenting system and if you ever tried it you probably destroyed your nervous system because they can literally shadowban you for using private mode in your browser (bunch of nuts! If not the lazy website owners they would have been already bankrupt). I had not opened a single of them in 10 years. I don’t even know WHAT a person should commit to get an IP ban here. And Macrumors is the only site I visit almost daily (apart from fake Facebook I use to doomscroll random memes), as well as it has a very diverse forum – you can talk about anything there, from vintage cameras, gear and other smartphones to espresso and winemaking.

So, maybe everything is not that bad after all!

 

[turbineseaplane]

Well said @shadowboi

Sometimes we don't know how good we have it here ... until we get some things to compare it to!

 

[svenmany]

You are not your mind, you are the consciousness behind it - that is a lot more interesting to explore, then definding the little mind.

Amazing!! I've been fussing over ontology a ton these days (working through a Chalmers paper at the moment).

I would be traumatized if I were suspended. It's not too bad having a post removed, but more than that indicates a broader mismatch between myself and the forums. I would probably rethink my involvement like the OP is doing.

 

[dmr727]

I've been here a long time, and I've been smacked by the mods from time to time. Usually happens when I get sucked in by a troll. I consider myself to be a conscientious poster, but the rules are the rules, and I don't fault the mods when they decide that I stepped over the line.

Try not to take it too personally. As busy boards go, IMO MR does a pretty good job of walking the line between stifling moderation and letting the inmates run the asylum.

 

[ignatius345]

Sometimes I wish there was more of an upvote/downvote system like Ars Technica uses. Posts that get a lot of downvotes get hidden (but not deleted), and anecdotally I think it tends to bury a lot of the less useful and most inflammatory stuff.

Obviously there's no silver bullet here, but I have noticed that the tone of the forum threads attached to front page stories is pretty awful and relentlessly complain-y, and the "everything Apple does is bad" crowd seems especially vocal in those threads.

By contrast, the tone in specific help threads is a lot better and people tend to be trying their best to offer helpful information.

 

[vantelimus]

Amazing!! I've been fussing over ontology a ton these days (working through a Chalmers paper at the moment).

I would be traumatized if I were suspended. It's not too bad having a post removed, but more than that indicates a broader mismatch between myself and the forums. I would probably rethink my involvement like the OP is doing.

You are not your work product. Don't be traumatized if someone doesn't like your post.