Contemplating Ace's 2Nd Banning Post of the Week

I was contemplating Ace's 2nd banning post of the week.

Back in the primordial soup days of Compuserve, one of the best forum sysops, GG, was swift and strict. She never let trolls and disruptors linger. She had her strict rules (warning, temp ban, full ban, if you were lucky; immediagte full ban if you were really bad).

She never let the "whuttabout free speeeech?" arguers whine about her bannings linger, either. She'd ban them. Other good sysops on that service did the same.

Mostly, she never talked about it much - she just did her job, keeping the streets safe for normal folk. It wasn't that GG was hard-hearted; it's just that she understood what it took to keep the peace and did it.

When I read Ace fuming about the bannings he does, I think, despite his porcupine exterior and seeming anger, what's really happening is, he's a nice guy, a soft-hearted fellow who doesn't much like the (absolutely necessary) job of playing Cop. Ticks him off to have to do it, even though it comes with the territory of having created the best such place on the web.

I've been a parent, a boss, a landlord, even briefly a sysop, and I know it's not fun banning, evicting, firing, or grounding. If you don't, though, all good folks leave.

SciShow: The Psychology of Trolling
(that guy with the funky hair)
https://youtu.be/5gqHTlBp6iY

"Communities that already have and enforce civil conversations will discourage more harmful trolls."