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In a move that isn't particularly surprising given their lack of support for intellectual diversity to date, Reddit has introduced outright bans to replace its shadow banning policy.
Reddit has introduced an "Account Suspension" feature that will replace Shadowbanning for non-spammers, though previously shadowbanned accounts are not going to be automatically unbanned.
A post on July 28, 2015 by Reddit admin /u/krispykrackers explains the basics of Shadowbanning, a tool initially created to counteract spammers by hiding their content without letting them know their account had been shadowbanned. However, this was Reddit's only tool for an account-wide ban, and it has since been used on people other than spammers as well.
Account Suspension will be more straightforward and transparent than a Shadowban. An F.A.Q. page (sic) linked in the announcement post states that only Reddit administrators will be able to apply suspensions, which can be temporary or permanent. Permanent suspensions will result in a message about the account's status being added to that account's userpage.
See, I'm a veteran. This means I was willing to take a bullet for the right of my countrymen to speak their minds. On this at least I have not mellowed as I've aged. My personal line in the sand is that we will never site ban for anything but over-the-top spamming or gross/repeated illegal activity while I am on staff. See my journal if you feel the need for that last statement to be expounded upon.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 13 2015, @01:44AM
As a veteran, libertarian, and as a commenter that has been reading your posts here for a long time I have to say are you sure they didn't ban you cause you were acting trolly? You at times give off a flambait/troll aura.
Maybe, just maybe, if you were a little bit calmer and tried to speak to your audience instead of yelling at them you might change a few of their minds.
For example:
-Don't call the people there liberal socialists. Everyone knows that is meant as an insult. When you insult someone you turn their ears off. Do you listen with an open mind if someone calls you a tea bagger? I doubt it.
-When you have facts behind your case, provide citations. And no that does not mean brietbart or limbaugh. You have to find sources that will speak to your audience. Find citations on those same mainstream sites you rail against. I know it sucks but citing brietbart will turn ears off as well.
-Don't tell people how they think. You don't know how they think with any certainty. You may be partially right, but there are nuances to how they feel about things, and things that have shaped their lives. Try to speak to them on their terms not not yours.
-Actually try to understand what they are saying, sure sometimes people on both sides of the political spectrum are batshit insane. Even if you are correct that they are batshit, calling them batshit will cause the others to turn their ears off. If you cannot figure out why someone thinks something ask them to explain it. Little known fact: asking for something makes someone like you more. Ask for their thoughts and then provide well reasoned calm citeable facts to show why you disagree.
I mean honestly I have read your comments and this is what I see in my minds eye with some of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNTApC0T9OA [youtube.com]
I used to be a liberal but calm reasonable discussions with others have shaped my perceptions.
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Friday November 13 2015, @01:56PM
As a veteran, libertarian, and as a commenter that has been reading your posts here for a long time I have to say are you sure they didn't ban you cause you were acting trolly?
Sounds like they banned him because they are oversensitive. I don't care how trolly or inflammatory his comments might have been. Don't pretend that your site respects free speech when you sit there and ban people for stating things in a way that you don't like; be honest and upfront about your censorship. And no, vaguely-worded rules against causing "offense" and other such things are not really sufficient, because they could apply to literally anything. Regardless of the tone, I don't think it was worthy of a ban. Those sites are total garbage.
-Don't call the people there liberal socialists. Everyone knows that is meant as an insult. When you insult someone you turn their ears off. Do you listen with an open mind if someone calls you a tea bagger? I doubt it.
If their argument has merit, what they call you is irrelevant.
Even if you are correct that they are batshit, calling them batshit will cause the others to turn their ears off.
Sounds like those people who would "turn their ears off" don't care much about reality, then. At least not if it's stated in a way they don't like. Who cares if they don't listen? As far as I'm concerned, this is a good thing, because you're able to spot shallow morons more quickly.