Posted by Dinah on November 3, 2010, at 11:20:22
In reply to A Question for Pro-block Members, posted by ron1953 on November 3, 2010, at 9:54:40
I really don't understand the opposition to blocks, per se.
If I go to someone's home, or someone's business, I expect that they will have expectations for my behavior in that home or business. If I violate those expectations, I would not be at all surprised if I were asked to leave. If I went to the home of another with the understanding that such expectations existed, I would expect the host to ask those who violate those expectations to leave.
It's not about wanting to change a poster, or about wanting to be rid of a poster. It's about having a set of rules, or expectations, for participating in a forum.
Dr. Bob is very careful about using the words only and not intent when judging whether someone is choosing not to live by the rules he set out for participation. But he also clearly uses a poster's history. Just as he is harder on incivilities in a thread where a warning has already been issued, he considers a block or pbc to be a warning, and is less lenient afterward with infractions. He likely considers that a person's prior history is a good indicator of whether or not they have an intent to comply with his requirements for posting.
Where I differ with him at times is that he doesn't consider intent when he's also considering history. To me, it was clear that Twinleaf came back with the intent to abide by site guidelines, and has tried to express her opinions in such a way as to be true to herself as well as being respectful of Dr. Bob, the guidelines, and her fellow posters. With that in mind, I think Dr. Bob should have engaged more on an explanation of where the limits lie rather than to direct threats of blocking.
My only objection to doubling of block lengths, or lengthy blocks, is that they don't even attempt to correlate with willingness to abide by site guidelines. A year's block isn't enough if a poster has no intent to participate in a positive way and abide by site guidelines when they return. A month is too long a block if a poster indicates through their attitude and their actions a willingness to learn and abide by site guidelines.
I think perhaps Dr. Bob is attempting, through his requests to have people help others avoid being blocked, to highlight the aspect of choice involved in posting. I think that it could be conveyed in a way that would be more effective and better accepted by the community, but I do understand the underlying rationale.
Dr. Bob doesn't block anyone permanently, unlike other sites. Posters are always welcome to post with the sole requirement that they abide by site guidelines. It is the poster's choice whether or not they wish to do so.
(With, again, a wish that he would be more charitable as to a person's current state of mind, as opposed to merely considering history.)
I don't see why that is such a controversial issue. The application perhaps, but I don't see a controversy behind asking people to abide by the expectations of the site, and requesting that they leave if they are unwilling to do so.
poster:Dinah
thread:965628
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20101014/msgs/968211.html