Posted by Deneb on July 20, 2010, at 17:41:59
I think we need to stop complaining about blocks because blocks have evolved over time and they are much less harsh now. In the past, blocks doubled no matter what. Your first block was 1 week, then if you offend again, it was 2 weeks, then 4 then 8, then 16 and so on until it hits the maximum of 52 weeks.
It didn't matter how long you were "good" for, if you had been blocked for 2 weeks before then were good for 2 years, your next block would still be 4 weeks.
Now there is an equation for calculating the blocks that takes into consideration how long you've been block free. If you experiment with plugging numbers into the formula you will see that it rewards people for being block free for long periods of time. The longer you are "good" the shorter your block will be when you do get blocked.
Also Dr. Bob didn't used to give people the opportunity to apologize to get out of blocks. Now he allows apologies. No one who wants to follow the rules will ever need to be blocked again. You can apologize, learn from your mistake and just get a warning.
I've been blocked several times in the past and it hurt so much I thought I was going to die. Babble was the only place I could talk to people and socialize. It was my only means of support, other than pdoc. I see why I was uncivil and I learned to be civil and now I've been block free for a long time.
Even though I was hurt by the blocks, they are good for the community and they were also good for me. I learned to take suicide and life much more seriously. The blocks made me see that certain ways of interacting and thinking will no lead to good and teaches you a better way to think and communicate.
I'm really glad there are civility rules here. I hope others can see the good in them too.
poster:Deneb
thread:955196
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20100714/msgs/955196.html