Would a moderator please clarify the position when a Community member is believed to have breached
the Code of Conduct?
I just tried to link to a member's profile in order to get to a thread in which I knew she was a contributor. I was shocked to find her status is being shown as "Banned", especially as she is such a valued member of Community.
Would a moderator please differentiate between "Suspended" (if there is such a status) and "Banned" and advise the procedure whereby someone can be reinstated? For example, does there have to be a private warning in the first instance, then an opportunity to appeal such a decision?
I believe this issue will cause a great deal of concern to many of us long-standing participants of FamilySearch forums, as it appears there has recently been a tightening of the "rules" here, from the previous position of our being able to feel free to make reasonable criticisms of the comments of other forum participants, as well as of our adverse experiences in using the FamilySearch website(s).
In the case of the former, I have been happy to receive negative responses to my contributions - especially as I occasionally misunderstand the problem raised here and have posted a response completely unconnected to the actual issue. In these cases, I am the one who posts an apology for any confusion caused in my addressing a question incorrectly.
Best Answer
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@Paul W We welcome the opinions of our users and know that not all comments are going to be "hip hip hooray" in nature. But they should be respectful.
When users use derogatory or disrespectful terms, they first receive a warning to please be polite in their posts. If they persist, they are suspended for 30 days. After the suspension, if they continue to use offensive language, they are suspended for 60 days. After that suspension, if they still are offensive, they are banned from FamilySearch Community.
Our goal is for FamilySearch Community to be a kind and welcoming place for all. It is possible to express frustration and report problems without being offensive.
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(Above comments duplicated, so deleted)
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Thank you for your transparent response. Just the one point you did not address was whether there is any "right of appeal", especially for someone who has actually reached the stage of being banned.
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@Paul W Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question. I assume the person can respond to the message received if they feel something unfair has happened. But I have not been involved in one of these transactions.
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Assuming only one person has been banned, I am now looking at the profile for the person mentioned by Paul W and I am astounded and horrified.
The profile details indicate this person has five stars after her name, has been a member since May 18, 2018, and has 1.8k Comments. If I saw her name I always read her posts, as she always had something worthwhile saying, and overall was extremely knowledgeable. I never saw any comment from her which I thought was abusive in the sense that it was so unacceptable it would get her banned. She did however have a direct way of speaking, particularly if she thought someone else did not know what they were talking, so I image that someone in FS has taken offence at this.
As she has been banned after nearly four years and !.8k posts, I think it more likely that, rather than the person has changed. it is more likely that FamilySearch's sensibilities have changed. Think of all the Community members who have been helped in the past by her expert knowledge. The perception I have is that she has been banned because of her distaste for the incorrect advice given someone by probably a FamilySearch moderator. Overall, I would say FamilySearch Community is the loser.
Given her long service in providing advice, I ask for FamilySearch to advise whether the decision to ban her was made at a "senior" level, or at a junior level, and that it was not just the decision of one person who had been offended by a comment about their lack of knowledge, or something similar.
As I said in another post relating to the code of Conduct, FamilySearch needs to give some actual wording as examples of what is considered acceptable wording in the situation when one person considers the advice given by another is incorrect.
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I would concur with Maureen's comments.
I am a little surprised that moderators appear not to have been advised on the process after someone has been "banned", so it would be good if it could be made perfectly clear (perhaps only Mark can advise here) as to what happens following this action. At this stage ( or even prior to that) is the member advised of any right of appeal, or is the decision (made by a moderator or whoever) deemed to be final? Further, if the "Banned" status is upheld, is this permanent, or is there any way back to participation in Community at a future date?
It is very important the the whole procedure should be transparent to Community members in order that they have a completely clear idea on what types of comment are totally unacceptable, who makes the decisions over the appropriate action, and clear knowledge of the (long-term) consequences after reaching "Banned" status.
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Like @N Tychonievich I have not been personally involved in one of these cases. However, it is not done at the whim of an inexperienced moderator. Any posts that are considered to be in breach of the Code of Conduct are flagged to be dealt with by specialists.
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RE: the recent ban of a particular individual from the communities forum. I’m not commenting on any facts or process out of my view, but I can say from the viewpoint of a forum member of several years that she has been a fantastic contributor to the forum, extremely helpful to many users and very well informed and knowledgeable . While none of us are perfect, her vast body of work here, taken as a whole and on balance was IMO exceptional!
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