Do Forum Bans Effectively Control User Behavior?

[Nereid]

Oh, and a comment on 'free thinking on the internet', in general: I'd be interested to know if there are any sites (with some history) that have never banned a contributor - does anyone know of any?

To be a good test, the sites should have a completely open policy - anyone can become a contributor, for free.

 

[The_Professional]

History is littered with Exile's.

Freedom and free thinking used to be valued highly when the internet first appeared, like a new born nation, the web has now a vast number of free-thinkers, they are called Mentors or Minus-ors.

The Internet is a pretty democratic society. No one owns it, however each server is governed by the laws, principles, time zones and regulations under the country for which it is physically located.

They dictate, they think and they respond accordingly, until you bow and heel to their every whim, evident by the amount of awards and 'back-me-up' literation that goes on in most forums. This forum is no exeption, with maybe less than norm freedom available, unless you actually pay?..then dividends are returned, favour for favour?

You are free to think on this forum. Just like you are free to think anywhere else, however this is a privately owned forum, and the site admins and owners are free to regulate it anyway they could. That means if they don't like the punctuation marks on this paragraph and decide to ban me tomorrow then there is nothing I could do.

Now, that example is really stretching it but you get the idea.

Additionally, If they ban me, they don't restrict me from using the keyboard and going on other sites, I can still do that; therefore I am still free to roam around anywhere just not on this site. In essence I am still free.

 

[Moonbear]

Additionally, If they ban me, they don't restrict me from using the keyboard and going on other sites, I can still do that; therefore I am still free to roam around anywhere just not on this site. In essence I am still free.

I think it's helpful to think of sites on the internet as similar to good old-fashioned brick and mortar businesses/clubs/gathering places, but without the brick and mortar. The owner still can decide what goes on at their location. If you head into a place hosting a book club and get kicked out for being boisterous and obnoxious, it doesn't prevent you from heading to the bar down the street where being loud is more acceptable, or from starting your own book club in your basement, where you permit rowdier behavior.