Message from BJ

Hi everyone,

In the recent weeks there have been quite a lot of questions regarding users getting banned, and other decisions made behind the scenes.

The moderators and I would like to be as transparent as possible, but unfortunately we cannot always give you the full story behind what happens. However, I know that we owe you more answers. I have been working on a clear document that outlines how mods make their decisions, and this will be made available to you shortly.

We are implementing a strict warning policy moving forward for members. 5 warnings (issued over PM) = banning. I would like to stress that none of the recent banned members were put in this position out of the blue. They have been given many opportunities to change their behavior, and unfortunately chose not to do so. I promise that you will know if you are getting a warning.

In the case that you receive a warning from a mod that you disagree with, please PM me and bring it to my attention so that I can investigate it and keep it fair. Below are the main offenses for warnings:

--Spam- Business or personal promotions posted on a message thread

--Harassment-Attacking another member. If the answer is YES to any of these questions: --Was it a specific name call?

--Is this post malicious and NOT helpful in any way?

--Was this post created with the main purpose of stirring up other users? 

-Online Vandalism-Posts to up a member’s post count

-Personal Information-This includes name, IP address, telephone number, address, email address, work information, etc. of another user or individual

--Impersonating other members/TB employees

The main goal is to make things more clear, so that you don’t feel like you need to question what’s going on behind the scenes.

In terms of this recent issue, AG received 5 warnings and was then banned. She was alerted that this was happening as well. Thank you for respecting the decision.

Best,

BJ