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Post by Professor Echo on Jun 20, 2022 5:20:39 GMT -5
Just as the title says, I was indeed banned/blackballed from joining a comics site and forum for being too knowledgeable about comics. Or maybe for something else, but what? Before becoming a member of the site you have to fill out a brief form, including a list of your five favorite comics characters. Because my imagination is buried in all sorts of comics history and minutia, I thought rather than pick five of the same old same old I would shake it up a bit and list five of my favorite characters from comic book history that are not superheroes from the big two publishers. About a week passed and then I received an email from a moderator at the site saying my membership had been denied because the five characters I chose were "obscure." Huh? I was then asked by this moderator what would I be interested in contributing to the site after listing such obscure characters? So I replied and first assured him I was not a bot or a potential troll. I explained that I'm a comics FAN above all, not an expert, but that I've also studied comics history and had some associations with comics professionals, including Stan Lee and Neal Adams. I also said I used to be a huge admirer and follower of the columnist who was the ostensible owner of this site and also of a regular contributor to the site when they both wrote for a since folded comic hobby magazine. To this I got crickets and sure enough the next day I was banned from the site. What the hell?  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2022 6:31:00 GMT -5
I don't know man, that seems really weird. I don't remember ever providing something like that to join a forum, or going through some kind of approval.
I feel like if they were trying to filter out bots/trolls, they wouldn't have even responded to you in the first place maybe? It could just be a flaky mod. I've probably been on a lot more guitar/music forums than comic book ones over the years, but some places just have crazy moderation going on and you get all kinds of weirdness. Granted, that's usually AFTER you join, but still, maybe someone thought it was their job to "screen" new folks coming in, and just went weird about it.
But look at it this way...if that is the kind of environment you encountered at the front door, imagine that same moderation if you had joined and were trying to post everyday! Sometimes best to move on.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2022 6:37:22 GMT -5
This reminds me of a guitar site I used to be on, and the guy who ran it was a bit "controlling" shall we say. He had a rule that everytime you logged in, you had to make at least one post, no exceptions. And he would really monitor it! He handed out warnings and temporary bans, and even permanent ones, left and right. Even to people who had made financial donations to help keep the site going!
It was crazy. People out of fear would just post nonsense like "I like that" in reply to something just to avoid getting in trouble. So yeah, you get some "personalities" for sure at times.
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Post by Professor Echo on Jun 20, 2022 6:38:32 GMT -5
I totally agree, SC. The whole thing just seemed tilted in bad directions so as you wisely advise, I'm on my horse and headin' out of town by sundown.
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Post by Professor Echo on Jun 20, 2022 8:19:59 GMT -5
This reminds me of a guitar site I used to be on, and the guy who ran it was a bit "controlling" shall we say. He had a rule that everytime you logged in, you had to make at least one post, no exceptions. And he would really monitor it! He handed out warnings and temporary bans, and even permanent ones, left and right. Even to people who had made financial donations to help keep the site going! It was crazy. People out of fear would just post nonsense like "I like that" in reply to something just to avoid getting in trouble. So yeah, you get some "personalities" for sure at times. Now multiply little power trips like that to whole countries and you can see why the world is so messed up. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 20, 2022 20:49:13 GMT -5
Like Groucho Marx, I would never join a club that would have me as a member. That's why I came here!  |
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Post by chadwilliam on Jun 20, 2022 23:00:33 GMT -5
I wouldn't give it any further thought if I were you. I used to post at a classic horror website but got myself permanently banned after Rush Limbaugh died and seeing all the "say what you will, but he was a loving man who cared for his country blah blah blah" posts pissed me off enough that I responded with something like, "Give me a break - the guy kept a running tally of homosexuals who died from AIDS and cheered their deaths on his show. Good riddance". The ban didn't bother me, but the realization that I had been obliviously frequenting a hate group like that for about a year did. While your group sounds more goofy than nasty, I think they kind of did you a favour. Would you have wanted to have been accepted, devoted your time to that place, and then six months down the road been informed that "because you keep bringing up some obscure guys named Stan Lee and 'Spy-der-Man' in what's supposed to be a comics fourm you are now banned from this group"?
Besides, the time you would have wasted there would have been time you weren't spending here. This place is better. Trust me.
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Post by chadwilliam on Jun 20, 2022 23:02:43 GMT -5
People out of fear would just post nonsense like "I like that" in reply to something just to avoid getting in trouble. Hey Supercat. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 4:11:11 GMT -5
People out of fear would just post nonsense like "I like that" in reply to something just to avoid getting in trouble. Hey Supercat. Doh!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 5:04:20 GMT -5
Just as the title says, I was indeed banned/blackballed from joining a comics site and forum for being too knowledgeable about comics. Or maybe for something else, but what? Before becoming a member of the site you have to fill out a brief form, including a list of your five favorite comics characters. Because my imagination is buried in all sorts of comics history and minutia, I thought rather than pick five of the same old same old I would shake it up a bit and list five of my favorite characters from comic book history that are not superheroes from the big two publishers. About a week passed and then I received an email from a moderator at the site saying my membership had been denied because the five characters I chose were "obscure." Huh? I was then asked by this moderator what would I be interested in contributing to the site after listing such obscure characters? So I replied and first assured him I was not a bot or a potential troll. I explained that I'm a comics FAN above all, not an expert, but that I've also studied comics history and had some associations with comics professionals, including Stan Lee and Neal Adams. I also said I used to be a huge admirer and follower of the columnist who was the ostensible owner of this site and also of a regular contributor to the site when they both wrote for a since folded comic hobby magazine. To this I got crickets and sure enough the next day I was banned from the site. What the hell?  They had a cheek asking you to contribute after that nonsense. Denying membership due to you listing obscure characters is unsporting and wrong. People play by certain rules. You don’t play five-a-side football only to be told, prior to the match, that the rules have changed and they now require six players. Or four. Perhaps in their membership process, they should have listed “No obscure characters as your answers”. But how do you define that, anyway? Green Arrow would probably be obscure to my mother, who doesn’t read comics, although I’m sure she’d know who Superman and Batman are. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 5:10:27 GMT -5
This reminds me of a guitar site I used to be on, and the guy who ran it was a bit "controlling" shall we say. He had a rule that everytime you logged in, you had to make at least one post, no exceptions. So, let me get this right, my friend: he wants people to post even if they have nothing to say. What a way to clog up a forum. Absolutely ridiculous rule. And to think someone is sitting there, “spying” on every login - and perhaps writing down in a notepad who’s posted and who hasn’t. Or something like that. I post when I have something to say. I wrote a post here about omnipotent characters because I had some thoughts I wished to share - and I wanted to read other people’s views. But if CCF dictated that we had to post a topic every time we logged on, apart from clogging up the forum, it’d result in meaningless posts. If I had to post 7 days a week - a different topic each day - maybe day one I could come up with something deep, but by day 7, in order to accommodate such a rule, I’d be posting “Who’d win out of Kite Man and Firebug?”, which might piss people off! I was on a FB group devoted to Hawaii 5-0. You were expected to post regularly in order not to become inactive. This wasn’t a “clean up the memberlist” once in a while rule. This was expecting you to contribute. Well, I’m sorry, but the show ran from 1968 to 1980 - and after a while, it’s hard to find something new to say. I have the series on DVD, but unless CBS finds a shedload of lost episodes in the vaults, there’s nothing new to say. I’d rather just have posted a Hawaii 5-0 post when I had something to say (I haven’t seen the controversial yoga death episode, so if that resurfaces, I’d post about that). I don’t believe in posting for the sake of it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 6:16:30 GMT -5
This reminds me of a guitar site I used to be on, and the guy who ran it was a bit "controlling" shall we say. He had a rule that everytime you logged in, you had to make at least one post, no exceptions. So, let me get this right, my friend: he wants people to post even if they have nothing to say. What a way to clog up a forum. Absolutely ridiculous rule. And to think someone is sitting there, “spying” on every login - and perhaps writing down in a notepad who’s posted and who hasn’t. Or something like that. I post when I have something to say. I wrote a post here about omnipotent characters because I had some thoughts I wished to share - and I wanted to read other people’s views. But if CCF dictated that we had to post a topic every time we logged on, apart from clogging up the forum, it’d result in meaningless posts. If I had to post 7 days a week - a different topic each day - maybe day one I could come up with something deep, but by day 7, in order to accommodate such a rule, I’d be posting “Who’d win out of Kite Man and Firebug?”, which might piss people off! That is exactly what happened. It was a very extreme approach to trying to generate activity and not become a "dead forum", but it just created tons of throwaway posts. And yes, the "spying" aspect was really strange! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 6:23:47 GMT -5
Quality over quantity is definitely underrated!
I sort of looked after a Pink Floyd thread on another forum (I wasn’t a mod). I was responsible for its direction, I guess. Last time I updated it was 3 months ago. There’s not exactly daily Pink Floyd news, right? But when Pink Floyd’s Twitter account shares an obscure poster, or some fascinating trivia, I’ll share it. I’d rather have a sporadic thread, with fascinating updates every few months, than simply post Pink Floyd stuff for the sake of it daily. Why isn’t quality over quantity more of a mindset among people like those you describe?
If people like that guy wanted meaningless posts and “Yup, I agree” stuff, then it only devalues their group/forum. And if they think the optics on that look good, then that’s just absurd.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 22, 2022 12:49:04 GMT -5
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