Just the Way It Is.... How to get yourself banned from Hearth.com

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
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webbie

Seasoned Moderator
Nov 17, 2005
12,165
Western Mass.
A recent user, Dorkweed, just had the honor of being banned. Of course, I say "honor" because he very well knew for many weeks before that he wanted to get banned and was going to get banned.

But let me start a bit further back.

We have 25K+ members. There have probably been 12 or fewer banned in the last year...that makes it a special club. Of course, lots of people WANT to be special. It's a certain kind of fame!

Being "liberal" (in terms of enforcing behavior), the moderators usually don't ban unless there is a very valid reason. Of course, we could be having a bad day also, but if you look at the numbers we must not have many of those...less than 3 valid members banned per moderator in a year!

Short of bad moods, you can add up the points and get banned for stuff like this:

1. If over 80% of your posts are in the Ash Can and if most of those deal with your guns or your religion, then chances are you will arise on our radar.

2. If you attack the moderators and call them names - that's likely to bring your name to the surface too!

3. If you claim that this is your forum and that you have "free speech" and "constitutional rights" here, that's another hint.

4. In a more rare case, I recently banned a new user with only two posts - both of them being critical of others, cynical and sarcastic. While we generally welcome such behavior as a tongue-in-cheek banter between helpful and experienced members, things that START like that are not likely to get better.

5. Emailing or messaging me privately about off-topic forum topics and your constitutional rights does not endear you to me. I have to assume some of the other mods feel this way too. The Ash Can is the Ash Can and not real life.

So, basically - as many long term members can tell you, it's quite hard to get banned around here. Still, some people rise to the challenge. The above gives those who aspire to such lofty heights some hints on achieving the goal.
;)

Note - feel free to start a Conversation (private message) with me or other mods if you have questions as to what might get a member banned, etc.
 
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Speaking of Special Breeds, we have a few winners in the banned department...a medal or a T-Shirt should be created.

Ain't worth explaining too much because folks tend to make up their own stories, but it's important that members realize they are ONE member of a large community (hearth.com) and they don't own it nor do they decide which privileges they have or how our forums are run.

I know that's a tall order for some, but when reasonable people think about it...they'll likely realize that is the ONLY way a large group can get along.

One particular issue which has come up lately is that some are not aware of the purpose of Hearth.com. We are NOT Facebook, Twitter or a Social Media site! We are an informational resource. Think of us as a Wikipedia of the hearth. Although there is a lot of latitude in certain parts of the forum (including, but not limited to, the nook and the can), the main forums are carefully moderated so as to provide the most information with less "noise" than many other forums.

For those who want a better idea of our vision and history, check out some of these links:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/faq/

https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/forum-rules/
 
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