Tired of being banned from forums and other online communities? Here are some basic tips to remember that might help you decrease your chance of being banned when participating in a community online.
The biggest secret to not being banned online is to not react off the cuff. In a real life situation when two people are communicating you have to react right away to what they say - either asking for more information from them with questions or by explaining your point of view. If you stopped and stood there for 10 minutes without saying anything, they would probably walk away and might not ever call you again.
Online communication is different, though, in that it doesn't have to be in real time. Most of the time, there's not another person there waiting for you to respond right away. You can use this to your advantage. When you read something that has you so upset your head is boiling and you're seeing red, step away from the keyboard. For a few minutes at least, walk away and remind yourself that being civil and polite is usually the best way to communicate effectively.
A lot of the time, when you read a post or comment that gets you really upset, it was something written by a troll who will write anything just to get you to feel like that. Now, you don't want to go around calling everyone in an online community a troll. That's a quick way to get yourself banned from a group online.
You'll want to educate yourself about trolls so that you can begin to learn to spot them online. This also let's you begin to think about the reasons all people communicate online, what their motivations are. When you begin to think of the big picture of the Internet this way, the little squabble you're having with rooster1492 about whether or not Canada is a real county doesn't seem so important that you sacrifice civility to try to get your point across.
This is very important in not getting yourself banned - not being a troublemaker. Being a troublemaker online, someone who is <i>always</i> right no matter what isn't welcome in most communities online. Sure, people like that have their hangouts online, maybe their own blog where they're king of the realm, but in most communities that have a lot of people, these type of people aren't tolerated and end up getting banned.
As you spend more and more time online, communicating with people who have similar interests on one or many sites, you'll begin to be able to recognize various styles or type of people that post online. You're not going to agree with everyone and everyone isn't going to agree with you, but if you learn how to agree to disagree, you'll go a long way in not only making sure you're not banned from a web community, you might even rise in ranks becoming a moderator or someone else with the authority to ban others.
