Do you ban or delete inactive accounts on your forum?

[Retread]

The reason I ask is that this was recently mentioned on the Support Board.

I can almost understand deleting inactive accounts, where no post was ever made. Then the member list would be shorter. But really, what does that matter?

I can't understand why it would be of any benefit to banning an inactive member. That seems hostile and punitive to me. Can anyone offer an explanation for this?

[Kami]

Since I run an RP, I 100% delete inactive OOC accounts and related IC accounts if the player falls under a certain threshold for activity (Im a bit more generous than others at two months). I won't delete inactive IC accounts as long as the OOC account is active though -- there are plenty of reasons an IC account isn't being used that have nothing to do with player inactivity.

The reason I delete inactive accounts is for game balance and appeal. If I have inactive users it gives my forum an illusion of business that will draw players expecting a more fast-paced environment than what I actually offer and that isn't fair to them or my current players.

I wouldn't ban them though if they're just inactive, and honestly have never understood that particular decision.

[bigballofyarn]

In my very early days of being an admin, I used to delete inactive accounts. Some got banned if they were people who joined just to promote their site, and then became inactive. I gave them the opportunity to interact with the community first.

Edit:
I love my tortoise. So, I have to make sure his friends are represented in the poll.

[Retread]

Sept 10, 2020 16:35:58 GMT -8 Kami said:

The reason I delete inactive accounts is for game balance and appeal. If I have inactive users it gives my forum an illusion of business that will draw players expecting a more fast-paced environment than what I actually offer and that isn't fair to them or my current players.

Thanks for elaborating.

[Retread]

Sept 11, 2020 4:25:38 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

In my very early days of being an admin, I used to delete inactive accounts. Some got banned if they were people who joined just to promote their site, and then became inactive. I gave them the opportunity to interact with the community first.

That makes sense with the conditional.

Sept 11, 2020 4:25:38 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

Edit:
I love my tortoise. So, I have to make sure his friends are represented in the poll.

Yeah, I was thinking of you when I added that poll choice.

... and of course, this guy:

[bigballofyarn]

Good thing Jonathan wasn't allowed to touch any animals.

[Dazzal]

If the inactive members have a higher post count, I deactivate the Profile, thinking they may come back some day. If they have never posted, I delete the Profile. Why make my member count look better when they have never posted. If a member asks me to delete their Profile, I will.

[Retread]

Sept 12, 2020 7:59:02 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

If the inactive members have a higher post count, I deactivate the Profile, thinking they may come back some day. If they have never posted, I delete the Profile. Why make my member count look better when they have never posted. If a member asks me to delete their Profile, I will.

Hi Dazzal

What do you mean by 'deactivate the profile'? Do you mean disable the account or something else?

[Shaliza]

I voted that I delete the inactive accounts after a few months if the member has never posted. I don't like having a falsely high member count when people never post. In my humble opinion it helps with keeping the forum more streamlined and clean.

If a member keeps signing up with the same IP after being deleted for being inactive several times, then I IP ban them. I had someone sign up like three times in the same year with zero posts each time, with the same IP and user name after they were deleted for inactivity and I ended up banning them.

It's up to each forum admin how to handle inactive accounts but that's just my $0.02 for whatever it's worth.

[Retread]

Sept 12, 2020 10:01:15 GMT -8 Shaliza said:

It's up to each forum admin how to handle inactive accounts but that's just my $0.02 for whatever it's worth.

Seems like it's worth more than that. At least a nickel, imho.

Seriously, there's no singular 'right' way to do this. Sharing our thoughts on how we decide, helps other forum owners make a more informed decision. Thank you for adding to the conversation.

[Kami]

I realise in retrospect I said "business" instead of "busyness"  😂😂😂 Hopefully you understood what I meant.

[ZandraJoi]

My forum is just under 5 months old so I haven't deleted accounts yet. I was thinking that inactive accounts will be deleted after 6 months but I may revise that when the time comes. I prefer quality over quantity so don't care to 'show off' having a high member count. But on the other hand, if somebody took the time to register, maybe they should have the option to come back at any time. But if there are no posts AND they haven't even tried logging in, then I may delete those accounts.
I wouldn't ban just 'cos they were inactive; that's selfish IMO. They didn't do anything bad, they just didn't post.

I have it where a member can delete their own account. I'm in others & it was a pain having to 'ask' to have my account deleted. Same with editing our own posts.

Btw, I like turtles too lol Did you get that idea from that kid on the news?

[Dazzal]

Sept 12, 2020 9:18:28 GMT -8 Retread said:

Sept 12, 2020 7:59:02 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

If the inactive members have a higher post count, I deactivate the Profile, thinking they may come back some day. If they have never posted, I delete the Profile. Why make my member count look better when they have never posted. If a member asks me to delete their Profile, I will.

Hi Dazzal

What do you mean by 'deactivate the profile'? Do you mean disable the account or something else?

Retread
Yes, disable/deactivate means the same thing to me. Sometimes I forget the term DISABLE. lol

[Retread]

Sept 13, 2020 7:40:20 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Btw, I like turtles too lol Did you get that idea from that kid on the news?

That's an old video and it spawned a meme, many years ago. knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-like-turtles

At the time, a typical random meaningless reply on a thread would be "I like turtles."

[Retread]

Sept 13, 2020 7:46:19 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Retread
Yes, disable/deactivate means the same thing to me. Sometimes I forget the term DISABLE. lol

Hey Dazzal, be aware that disabling an account removes the ability for the member to log into that account.