Maybe I’m overlooking something, but is there a reason why an indefinite suspension isn’t a feature? Typically if I’m suspending a user, it’s either going to be for a short amount of time as a cool-off period (maybe a week, a month, whatever) or an indefinite suspension (this user might not be coming back).
For now I’ve been entering 9999 for indefinite suspensions, but then I have other community members look at penalized user’s profile and see the expiration date and think “WOW this user is banned until 2042? They must have REALLY done something wrong!” It creates unnecessary hoopla.
Should I be handling users differently? Or is an indefinite suspension option something that makes sense?
Well it depends. If you use the suspension length days entry as…
I will now enter a number that represents how much I hate this user
Then they will treat it like that. So … don’t do that? Always suspend everyone for the same amount of non-ridiculous time, say 5 years. Don’t put them in a cannon and launch them 9999 years in the future.
Of course, people will be able to discriminate between users who were suspended for a brief time because you want them back, and those you do not want back, but that’s unavoidable.
I think a lot depends on what is entered for “reason”
eg. don’t enter this member ■■■■ unless you are willing to have others see it when they go looiking for it.
I enter a large number only because I don’t want to worry about the user again – not to show on a grand scale how much I dislike them.
I guess something like 3-5 years sounds better. My intention is mainly to make and convey a firm decision (this user is – for the foreseeable future – gone) but leave the option that perhaps down the road if the user matures and reaches out to the administration they could come back. Setting a specific date clouds the message but I’ll roll with it for now.
■■■■ = ?
I give pretty straightforward reasons (user spammed, user continually pushed discussions off topic, et cetera).
For one-visit SPAM accounts it matters less if someone saw “Suspended, SPAM”.
But IMHO for established members that had a rare mess-up or went over to the dark side it would be more respectful and more tactful to give a more “generic” non-specific reason like “non-member” or “inactive”
i.e. enough so other members will know they shouldn’t expect that member to respond to mentions or messages - without putting the bad member’s head on a pike.