Back to the Policies Overview
Why don't you tell us everything about a policy
violation?
This protects the privacy of the violators, the targets
of the violation, and those who reported the violation.
For instance, say someone reports an abusive email to
us. If we were to make everything public, there would be a lot of personal
information displayed in public, and the sender and/or their friends could use
the information to identify and attack the person who reported the email.
This works both ways. For example, if we notify someone
of a violation, and they always follow the rules from then on, they should be
able to continue writing without having anyone attack them for their one
violation.
Why don’t you tell us who reported a policy
violation?
It doesn't make any difference. People need to take
responsibility for their actions. This is about a violator's bad behavior, not
about “who told”. If you care more about "who told" than what the violator did,
you're missing the point.
Also, bystanders need to be able to report abusive
behavior while remaining anonymous, so that friends of the violator do not
target them. That’s how things often work in the real world, and that’s how they
work on Blogit.
Do you read the blog entries/comments that were reported
before taking action?
Yes. We take as much time as we need to, so that we can
make the right decision.
Don’t people get warned before they’re suspended?
Yes. We’re not into suspending people without warning.
(However, if they're doing something like creating a new account after being
suspended, there's no point in warnings.) Ask around; there are other members on
Blogit who have received warnings without being suspended.
You didn’t tell someone what he or she did wrong.
We always send email regarding a violation, identifying
the relevant blog entry/comment and the problem. Always. People asked us to, so we do.
If the member emails us back, we answer their questions as specifically as
possible.
If there’s something more we can do, let us
know. Include specifics.
I didn’t see anything the person wrote that was a
violation.
You might not. For example, we’ve suspended people in
the past for repeatedly spamming Blogit members via email. Although there’s
nothing visible on the site, we’re not going to let them keep
spamming.
If the relevant content was posted, the author or Blogit
staff may have deleted the content.
I don’t think what the person did should be a
violation.
In that case, please let us know how the Conduct Policy
should be changed. We’re always looking for ways to improve it. That’s how the
Conduct Policy came about in the first place – through questions and suggestions
from people on Blogit.
You were wrong to suspend someone.
We really, really
hate to suspend people. However, suspending someone is typically about
protecting others from that person, whether they’re passing others’ work off as
their own, being abusive to others, or anything else.
We only suspend someone when we’re forced to because of
their actions. We try to use a “three strikes and you’re out” approach, so they
get plenty of warning.
Again, people need to take responsibility for their
actions. Just as in real life, it's easy to blame us or the person who reported
the violations, but much harder to face the fact that you (or your friend) might
be doing something wrong.
Some (or many) people don’t agree with your decision, so you
should reverse it.
Sometimes, a decision is popular; sometimes, it’s not. All that matters are
the facts and the process, not whether or not the decision will be popular.
That’s how it should be.
The rules are there to protect everyone, not just those who are popular,
aggressive or have vocal friends.
You can read the policies and the
process
we follow for reviewing possible violations. Have suggestions for changing them?
Please tell us.
I'm scared I might accidentally violate Blogit policy. How do I keep from doing
that?
It's pretty simple: play nice. For details, here’s a link to all of the policies.
Don't worry too much. In our experience, the people who are most concerned
about violating policy are usually the ones who never do.
Do you monitor all of the blog entries and comments?
No. This is not a moderated network. Perhaps we'll provide ways for people to act as
moderators in the future if people request that.
I think you should monitor all of the blog entries and
comments.
There are lots of blog entries and comments on Blogit, and we don’t have
the resources to monitor all of them. Perhaps that will change in the future,
but it’s not the case right now.
I read something that violates Blogit policy. Should I let you
know?
Yes, please. Here’s how to contact us.
Since one person was suspended, I think someone else, who’s also
violating Blogit policy, should also be suspended.
Please contact us regarding this person. If you give us links to relevant blog entries/comments, we can review
it more quickly.
We don’t always get a report about each person who is violating Blogit
policy. If you see something that should be reported, please let us know.
I reported someone and they weren’t suspended. Why
not?
We may have made the decision to send them a warning, which is often the
right thing to do. We don’t suspend someone unless there’s no other choice, e.g.
if we’ve issued repeated warnings without effect.
If you feel like a member is repeating his or her past behavior, please let
us know. If appropriate, we’ll take further action.
I don’t think Blogit is consistent in applying
policy.
We do our best to be as consistent as possible, and
always follow the review process described on the Policy Violations help page. Keep in mind that although we try to be as objective
as possible, you may or may not agree with our decisions.
If you feel like a member is repeating his or her past behavior, please let
us know. If appropriate, we’ll take further action.
Do suspended members receive a refund and any earnings that are
due to them?
Yes. A refund is issued for the unused portion of the
subscription, prorated on a monthly basis. And earnings are paid to them as
outlined in the Withdrawing Earnings help page.
Do suspended members lose all their writing?
No. We recently put in place a system that allows us to send them their
writing. In future, they will be able to save it themselves.
Blogit is not a backup system, so we recommend that all members back up their
writing. While we have invested in making sure that the Blogit network keeps your
writing safe, and that there are redundancies, there could be an unforeseen
technical problem at our hosting company that might delete your writing. Please
be safe rather than sorry.
Do you ever reinstate suspended members?
No. We have found from past experience that reinstated members continue their
original behavior, so suspension doesn’t seem to help.
I’m a paying customer so I have a right to verbal abuse towards
Blogit staff members, and it will make them take me seriously.
No. Remember, the Blogit team is made up of real people who are working hard
to make Blogit better. Verbal abuse won’t help.