Previously Blocked/Banned Members Creating New Accounts
Today I encountered a previously banned member who behaves inappropriately towards/is abusive towards other members. I encountered this person another time and have issued warnings, along with apparently other Mods. After being issued their final warning, they were blocked/banned, and apparently made a new account again to get back into the site. And apparently, they do so EVERY time--likely this wasn't the first time. It's unfortunate that there is no other way for admin/leaders of the site to look in further to such members? Such users create an unhealthy environment for everyone involved, and sometimes they are even egged on with "hearts" from other members. These members make it difficult for others to stay on topic and avoid having their feelings negatively affected.
@Tiare0527
I think I ran into this same person :(
@Tiare0527 - That's true. There needs to be a better way out of this. I suggest you report the member's name as a support ticket for inappropriate behaviour. If you remember their previous names that will be good too. Maybe they can look into it and figure out a solution.
Yeah, it would be helpful if moderators had access to ip addresses and could match the accounts and just ban them all.
Moderators will never be given the IP addresses as this raises issues with confidentiality. However, apparently mutes given in the support rooms are IP mutes, but I'm not sure whether this is working/is true.
Even with IP mutes, it does not change the fact that in this day and age, a vast number of people, I would go as far as to say most the people here know how to change their IP in order to avoid these mutes. Whilst there are other techniques which basically include your internet fingerprint (harder to change) to stop people coming back, this involves more detailed procedures backend to block them, and I don't think the system is set up to deal in this kind of way at the moment...
Would be interested to know if any techies have other solutions, but it's a common problem the vast majority of sites face when trying to block!
@mobbsy - A solution I have suggested before is VPN and proxy blocking. That's the only way I can find it to be possible. Of course people can again walk around this, but it will be costly to do so and it takes a good amount of effort. So that might help drastically reduce banned people from coming back.
Also...@Tiare0527 banning someone from the chatroom i.e. mute...doesn't mean they have been banned from the site. It just means they can't access the chatroom for a specific amount of time.
@Flourish - I would be all for VPN/proxy blocking, and whilst I agree this would significantly reduce those coming back, and this is something which sites do do - I fear that the ways to circumvent this are becoming more pronounced on the web in general, and unfortunately, it won't be long before this won't work... but for now, I'd agree!
There is an element of an "arms race" here like we see with spam and other social intrusions. Google actually bought a company a friend of mine started just to help with defending their social (and mail) infrastructure from pests.
...and it is like an ecosystem and pests test the weaknesses and we do need to keep improving things, both in terms of tools and methods for moderation and also in terms of social / cultural cohesion and resilience, transparency and sharing of knowledge, training and alerting people to types of risk and threats, and also reminding and empowering peole to start by taking care of themselves and *always err on the side of establishing boundaries where YOU need them to be*.
Everything else is secondary, even helping other people. If we start with self protection, self care, and strengthening of our own ability to set boundaries, then we can manage the technological and cultural and innovative challenges ahead (imho).
I have encountered this situation many times.
One solution I have offered is that members have to have a certain amount of listener chats before they can enter Members Support Rooms.
This applies to guests too.
To be honest, there's little we can do otherwise to sort it as people have ways of masking their IP address.
@Zedda - That is not possible for guest. Because if a guest clears their cookies everything will be lost.
Hmmm I see your point there. Would it be a viable solution for members then? With that piece of information I guess the disadvantage to that is it might deter people from becoming members, but it would make things more secure for members.
@Zedda - Yes that is viable for the members.
@Flourish it would certainly make things much easier for Mods in terms of dealing with disruptive behaviour in the sense that it's much more likely to be made by guests.
@Zedda - But it was mentioned the person made a new account. So that means they are a member.
Hello! Yes, that is quite a problem, people being muted or banned and then returning on new accounts to either continue conflicts, troll or try to go around the rules by being unfriendly but not obviously breaking any rules. If you know that they are currently muted and just signed up for either a new member account and came on as a guest, please use the circumventing previous mute option in the warning system. That will mute them instantly. We mute people, not accounts. If they are not obviously breaking any rules but they are being on the borderline of breaking rule please use the group mod log so we all know that we need to keep an eye on them.
@MissZ when you say this: If they are not obviously breaking any rules but they are being on the borderline of breaking rule please use the group mod log so we all know that we need to keep an eye on them.
I'm a bit confused... we don't use the group mod log so that we can all see which members might be problematic... we don't see the group mod log at all...? Only the group mod leaders I presume?
@mobbsy Yes, I meant the group mod leaders/Group Support Mentors, not all moderators. If there are many complaints about a single person, there can be something done about it, even if they are dancing around the rules on purpose.
Well, it seems we might have all run into the same man. Really vicious guy. Since the problem has affected so many of us we can send an email to Laura at 7 cups and send her all the details we remember and see id we can get his IP banned from the site all together. He certainly made me super uncomfortable and harassed me for days
please do gather any such clues or evidence you can just as you say, and thank you, especially as I know this can be painful to review.
also, first I am sorry you were treated that way especially when we are trying to create a safe and compassionate community here!
Thanks so much Krink, no need to worry about me. Fortunately I had tons of great peer supporters and mods to help me through it.
Think i mightve given up if it werent for @itslee
Also i intend to continue to help create a safe and warm community for those in need
just wanted to mention I am following this thread and will discuss with the community team
Whoa. This thread seems to have taken off. I almost feel as though I stirred things up, totally unintentionally, but yes, it is a problem. Another issue is the fact that there are so many different accounts this person is using. Today I seen them with another one, but it looks as though they were removed by another mod once again. It's at the point where it's ridiculous, really. -_- It's also not even just that member. The same room seems to get out of hand quite a bit. They're discussing things of a sexual nature as well, pretty often. Or referencing without directly saying things.
@Flourish @Zedda @MissZ whom to contact,,, if someone who's been blocked 9 times,, is back again with a new member account and has started harassing female listeners again for the 10th time????
@Minionator -- you can always email or PM admins such as Laura or Xian with this information should you see it. However, unfortunately, it seems there is not a permanent solution to this problem. My understanding is that, while they can ban an IP address, there are ways around this (is that right @KrinkTheMellowUnicorn?). I believe they are continuing to look into this with hopes of finding a solution.....sorry, i know that's not very helpful.
There is an aspect of this that is like a technical version of a cat-and-mouse game. It's actually better if I don't go into too many details about how rules are currently being evaded or how we may or may not be able to or be planning to deal with it, and I hope everyone can understand that and trust I'm not trying to be mysterious or deceitful here.
@Minionator - You can send a report through support and select "inappropriate behaviour". The female listeners can also block or ban (whatever is appropriate) the person and write a report as they do so.
@rocketsmom is right that you can PM me when you recognize a repeat offender by their "m.o."
Please always first use any formal process we have set up for reporting problems, because talking to me does not put something in the right queue, but I can help with the "making sure this issue is noticed and addressed as urgent" part, so if you PM me with particulars, and I am awake, I can deal with them directly or relay them (when say I am on my phone and do not have fully majestic admin powers).
@KrinkTheMellowUnicorn -- I thought you had a magic wand to use when you were on your phone?? 
i think my magic only extends to identifying the pure of heart
thank you @RocketsMom @Flourish and @KrinkTheMellowUnicorn will use the given ways to block/ban the guest/member... however,, the person has also joined as a listener couple of times.. and although its a guy,,, he's also made 2 fake accounts,, pretending to be a female... and so,,, as soon as i find out its him,,, Krink... am pm-ing you :P
for now that is best until we develop more robust countermeasures, and thank you for your vigilence.