Depression Support Group
Depression is a real and debilitating condition that is often misunderstood by family and friends. Its meaning can range from a prolonged period of sadness to an actual mental illness with specific symptoms. Find and share experiences with others who are going through the same struggles.
hi everyone in depression -
judging from the amount of hostile email in my inbox, it appears that DS is being accused everything from not banning enough people on the site to banning too many folks. i've said this before, but given the current state of things, i'd like to repost some of the 'secrets' behind DS and our abuse policies:
1) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that we'd like to never ban anyone from DS, and the vast majority of the time when we do take that drastic action, it's because a member has been extreme in their violation of our Terms. 99.9% of the folks on DS have no problem with our policies, and we never touch or deal with them at all, except to answer their tech support questions.
2) let me be specific: if a member threatens another member with physical harm, or brutally insults one or a series of members, they will typically be warned, and when it happens again, we have no choice but to remove them. Understand that we are a place of support. It's simply unacceptable to berate, harrass or threaten someone else on our community. I think you'd all agree? Please understand that we take this issue VERY seriously.
3) We're all about second chances - we understand that folks make mistakes, and hiding behind the computer can cause all of us to say things we'll regret...but we can't continue to ignore abuse forever.
I hope you all understand that we have no bias at DailyStrength...we don't know any of you personally, and we're only interested in providing a warm and supportive place. I'm particularly disappointed in those of you who choose to believe another member and immediately accuse us of treachery. Before you attack and yell at us, can I ask you to at least enquire so that we can give you our side of what's going on?
I don't know what to say...I'm stunned at how the focus of this community has moved from one of warmth and caring to bitterness, and I want to know how to stop that immediately. I look forward to your responses as to how we can get back on track.
doug
judging from the amount of hostile email in my inbox, it appears that DS is being accused everything from not banning enough people on the site to banning too many folks. i've said this before, but given the current state of things, i'd like to repost some of the 'secrets' behind DS and our abuse policies:
1) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that we'd like to never ban anyone from DS, and the vast majority of the time when we do take that drastic action, it's because a member has been extreme in their violation of our Terms. 99.9% of the folks on DS have no problem with our policies, and we never touch or deal with them at all, except to answer their tech support questions.
2) let me be specific: if a member threatens another member with physical harm, or brutally insults one or a series of members, they will typically be warned, and when it happens again, we have no choice but to remove them. Understand that we are a place of support. It's simply unacceptable to berate, harrass or threaten someone else on our community. I think you'd all agree? Please understand that we take this issue VERY seriously.
3) We're all about second chances - we understand that folks make mistakes, and hiding behind the computer can cause all of us to say things we'll regret...but we can't continue to ignore abuse forever.
I hope you all understand that we have no bias at DailyStrength...we don't know any of you personally, and we're only interested in providing a warm and supportive place. I'm particularly disappointed in those of you who choose to believe another member and immediately accuse us of treachery. Before you attack and yell at us, can I ask you to at least enquire so that we can give you our side of what's going on?
I don't know what to say...I'm stunned at how the focus of this community has moved from one of warmth and caring to bitterness, and I want to know how to stop that immediately. I look forward to your responses as to how we can get back on track.
doug
We've had many, many requests to re-instate folks who have been banned. A few thoughts about this:
1) You'd be surprised, given the amount of discussion, about how few people are actually banned on the site. It takes a pretty severe, repeated level of abuse and inappropriate posts to generally force us to ban someone.
2) We do not proactively pursue people on the site...we respond to complaints when folks are attacked by others. We do our best to pursue all leads, but with 10,000 posts a day and 200,000 members, we don't get to everyone immediately. If we don't respond, it's not that we don't care or don't agree with you...we're simply busy. Silence does NOT equal guilt or disagreement.
3) We've made quite a habit of letting folks back on the site, and I'd say about 40% of the time, folks behave themselves and all is good. Unfortunately, some folks have a hard time controlling their emotions, and when they do something inappropriate, we're notified and we begin the abuse cycle again. It's alot of work for us, and it definitely isn't something we enjoy...
I apologize if I'm being aggressive tonight. Like you all, I get very upset when I'm accused of wrongdoing, especially when I spend so much of my life working towards building a warm and caring place for those in need. We're human beings as well.
OK, sorry about the soapbox. I'm done.
I don't know if this site could do that or not, but it sure would help.
HUGS!
*sorry for the ramble*
i think something needs to be done about this.......it is not morally or ethically right, this could push anyone over the edge.........
I think it's great that you take the time to come here to the board and ask for our opinions and responses! I am sorry you have been deluged with hostile emails, that really isn't a good way to ask for help, but I suppose some people lash out in frustration and anger and most likely regret it later. I have done so myself on other boards in the past.
At any rate, I put this idea on another thread, but i will put it here as well:
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I think a possible solution to people being directly banned may be a system we use at one of our sportscard trading boards.
It's like a point system. At 8 points you are given a warning, 12 you are suspended for 3 days, 15 you are suspended for a week and for 20 points you are banned for good. For swearing/threatening/trolling for arguments is like 5 points. Post bumping within a short time is like 2 points, etc. Maybe they could incorporate a system here that fits this site and it's problems with members.
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Now with threats of harm/violence I think that's a great candidate for automatic ban, but other things I think would be best served with something similar to what I described. I realize this may not work exactly on a site like this where people can be triggered and become emotional very easily, but maybe with a little fine tuning it could be an idea.
Thanks for such a great site. I have been blessed to meet many wonderful people and for that I am extremely grateful.
All my best.
~R~
more to come on that later...