Mark Dice exposes "Discourage" feature to millions

frm

frm

Well-known member
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...will this have an impact on users questioning forums?
 
Arantor said:
Given that discouragement type features have been in forum platforms for many years now (at least 15?), I'd say the answer is 'probably not'.
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Not many users know it exists, until weird stuff starts happening to them.

Personally, I would never use it. It seems like a weird way to punish people.
 
frm said:
Not many users know it exists, until weird stuff starts happening to them.

Personally, I would never use it. It seems like a weird way to punish people.
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I use it on my mods and forget about it for 4 years, and they then tell me they never use the site because of it (they're a moderator for another platform)... :)
 
frm said:
Not many users know it exists, until weird stuff starts happening to them.
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You'd be surprised - and if you're doing it right, it'll just look like the site is just creaking and groaning to them.

But seriously, this is in no way a new feature and XF is certainly not the only platform that has it available.
 
Arantor said:
But seriously, this is in no way a new feature and XF is certainly not the only platform that has it available.
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Oh, I know. I just thought that the majority of members wouldn't know that this is a feature and something that a forum owner would apply to a member as it would only seem to create more work with complaints.
Arantor said:
You'd be surprised - and if you're doing it right, it'll just look like the site is just creaking and groaning to them.
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It seems like people would complain about it, taking more resources up. Making this known to the masses, and older followers that I suppose Mark Dice has, may make them question their place at the forum and decide to leave if they keep encountering it. I don't think that's the best avenue to take if you want someone gone as people can and do change.
 
frm said:
make them question their place at the forum and decide to leave if they keep encountering it
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But that's exactly the point of the feature.

If you have someone you want gone, banning is usually not the best approach because very often - especially for someone who is a recurring troublemaker - they'll just make another account. The goal of the feature is to discourage (hence the name) the user from coming back by letting them think the site is sluggish and buggy and that it isn't worth their time being a troublemaker.

As for people changing... it doesn't happen as much as you'd think. The old adage 'leopard never changes their spots' is very true - troublemakers tend to revert to being troublemakers eventually. The personality dynamics may just not align and it's better to move on and do something else rather than flogging the dead horse, so to speak.
 
frm said:
Oh, I know. I just thought that the majority of members wouldn't know that this is a feature and something that a forum owner would apply to a member as it would only seem to create more work with complaints.
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I guess... but only if yo use it. I never plan to use a discourage function, I'll simply warn the user and then outright ban them if they don't correct their behavior. The only function that I realistically see with the discourage ability is to mindf*ck the user it is applied to. And I've grown slightly beyond that stage.
 
Tracy Perry said:
I guess... but only if yo use it. I never plan to use a discourage function, I'll simply warn the user and then outright ban them if they don't correct their behavior. The only function that I realistically see with the discourage ability is to mindf*ck the user it is applied to. And I've grown slightly beyond that stage.
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That's how I see it.

I'd see discourage working on gaming forums with teens, but once you cross into the professional realm, or where you expect people to act professional, it seems best to just ban them instead of "playing their game" by discouraging them.
 
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