I've received some questions on the forum and via pm lately about bans.
First off, the easy explanation on bans: I have more information than users, and I have the responsibility of running a site.
More nuanced discussion of the issue: in the early years of this forum, we'd have very normal people dropping by daily and sharing their results. That was great, because it lead to information (the surgeon, a verifiable result, etc), and healthy discussion. View a thread from 2012 vs one from 2017 and it's night and day. We don't get those healthy people anymore, and I think it's because of the influx of psychos from the usual channels. It's especially true with females: I haven't seen a female reveal results here in like 3 years. They're probably terrified to get ripped apart.
And people ask why I ban Lestat. Well, it was the possible SJ association, but he was creepy, and people like that create a negative atmosphere that scares others off. The atmosphere here has turned too negative, and it was because I used to have a no-ban policy, which lead to a large influx of toxic personalities.
Now our "reveals" are all pre-surgical and young boys/men who have class 1 bites and jaws and yet still want jaw surgery (and head transplants). They also want all the answers about their case via posting a photo. We used to get pre-surgerial people with severe jaw issues who had cephs to share. You guys should ask yourselves why this is. I know why it is. It's the negative atmosphere. Many of the people I "ban for no reason" contribute to that. So our definition of "no reason" is different. I want a welcoming atmosphere where people feel safe sharing their results.
When I/we see normal people sharing their results again and all the knowledgeable people still sticking around and helping, then I'll know the forum is back to being good. Right now it's meh because of too many lookism types who are still involved. So, they might disappear "for no reason" as we go along.
I encourage normal people reading this to join the forum and share your story, and if people harass you just write me. I encourage the lookism types who I have let hang around to act that way over there and refrain from it here -- get all your rage out somewhere else. Then come here and discuss surgery and respect the other members. That's the gist of it, and hope it explains my thinking so I don't have to keep answering PMs about this. The short of it is I want a positive and highly informative/intellectual environment so people can make decisions, and anything in the way of that must go.
