I got banned from the forums after having been considered “too combative” for not taking it lightly that a moderator lectured me on unrelated forum etiquette rules.
I wanted to discuss a legitimate technical issue, which turned out to be coil whine - at the time I did not know it was called that. A community member offered some advice, and I asked them kindly whether they would like to remove a particular question which I’ve answered in the very previous original post. They became offended by the very suggestion of this and deleted their whole reply, including the useful stuff. The moderator stepped in here and gave me a petty little lecture on all kinds of behavior norms, which I one by one refuted - to no avail, the thread just got locked.
Ok, fresh start. Let’s open another topic because I’m not here to bicker - I have an issue to discuss. The new topic got closed within 10 minutes by a mod, threatening me with a ban if I open it again.
I thought that was kinda ridiculous, because I’m a Framework customer and I want to discuss an issue with my laptop, so I opened anothe topic. Sure enough, it got closed and I got banned for a month.
A month has passed, and my problem is still there. One day when I’m browsing the interwebs to understand my issue, I stumble upon another Framework forum post discussing the same thing. My ban being lifted, I jump into the conversation and confirm that I have the same issue, and I share my story of having been banned after trying to discuss this. As you might guess, a mod appears, closes this topic as well, and states that the real reason I’ve been banned is that I have… wait for it… FREIGHT FORWARDED! And proceeds to permaban me on the spot with the notice “too combative”! What the hell, Framework!!!
I hadn’t freight forwarded and I have no possible explanation as to why this mod was jumping at me like that. Anyway, let’s take to reddit to complain about this. Quickly, a mob of zealous Framework fans forms, trampling over each other trying to lecture me that freight forwarding is prohibited etc… I WAS NOT TALKING ABOUT FREIGHT FORWARDING! I was complaining about a mod accusing me of freight forwarding and banning me for this bogus reason! And guess what - eventually the thread gets shut down after inevitably devolving into a discussion of freight forwarding (to which Framework has a similarly bogus attitude, although that has changed slightly with them conceding to European single market regulations) - the Reddit thread gets locked as well and I get permabanned from the subreddit for “discussing freight forwarding”!
Ever since, I message the mods on Reddit every now and then, reminding them of the utterly crazy way they’ve been treating me, and the usual response is just a temporary mute so that I can’t message them further.
Does anyone else have a similar experience?
They literally said exactly what I suggested you’d done: there’s no harm in repeating the information!
Don’t know what now to say to you, friend. Maybe also that norms are important for keeping spaces positive places for everyone, and being defensive and combative isn’t a helpful strategy anywhere in life, least of all online where there are no visual cues to help read people.
I hope you use this as a chance for introspection and growth. :)
He/she admitted he/she had overreacted and apologized for it, but the mods were already jumping on the opportunity to exert moderatory power as a means to reaffirm their control. Clear as day. I have looked into myself and found no malice or resentment. All I’m trying to do is raise awareness of corporate abuse of powers with the hope of sparking awareness of it and demand for change. What they are doing is manipulating public opinion of themselves for profit - banning someone over bogus claims is a means to that end. This conversation here has devolved into a cesspit of ad hominem on my person, with nobody being able to provide one example of me mistreating a single person. I appreciate your kind words to help me get support, but that is also beside the point. The point is we shouldn’t put up with such disingenious behavior from companies and that’s why I provided my story. I hope you and others can learn from it for the greater good.