since either you paused invites or revoked that link. i can’t come with my concerns. so let’s do it this way.
im a friend of a recently banned member. i’m here as someone who ran a fairly large server for nearly a decade to point out that the way this was handled on your end is… generously speaking, flawed.
my friend — along with others — was banned for what’s being labeled as “shit talking.” so just to be clear: is expressing concerns or venting within a trusted, private space now a rule violation? are members expected to never complain, ever, lest they risk removal? because if so, that’s an interesting standard for a community space.
the “shit talking” in question amounted to people expressing disappointment in how a situation was handled and sharing personal experiences involving certain moderators. it was simply people reacting to a situation that clearly affected them. for the record, “shit talking” generally means insulting, disparaging, or mocking someone in a deliberately mean-spirited way. that’s not what happened here. was the conversation heated? sure. given the situation, that’s not exactly shocking. frustration does not automatically equal malice. if there’s actual proof that anything was said with malicious intent, by all means, feel free to provide it!
the entire reason for talking to other people was to be heard. my friend wasn’t being heard, he was being dismissed, repeatedly, in how this situation was handled. seeking validation and perspective when you’re shut down isn’t malicious. is trying to be heard, after being dismissed, against the rules?
you cannot police people out of having feelings, and you definitely can’t run a sustainable community where any form of criticism is treated as a bannable offense. complaining is basic human behavior. trying to eradicate it entirely just results in people feeling unsafe or silenced — which, ironically, is what pushes conversations into private spaces in the first place.
could they have opened a ticket or spoken directly to mods? sure. but when the majority of concerns had already been dismissed and only acknowledged after the fact (ie, suddenly deciding to bring back certain stickers or whatever), that option loses any real credibility. confiding in trusted spaces becomes the natural outcome, not some malicious act.
genuinely looking for clarity on how any of this warranted a ban. because from the outside, it looks less like moderation and more like punishment for being unhappy.