Had to choose between reporting a banned meme or letting it slide in my local Facebook group

Last month a guy posted that 'vaccine microchip' meme with the fake Bill Gates quote in our neighborhood group. I was the admin. I could either delete it and ban him or leave it up and let the comments explode. I picked the ban option. He messaged me for 3 days straight calling me a censor. Now I wonder if I should have just let people argue it out instead. Has anyone else had to play referee with these banned memes in a small online community?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron6771mo ago

Wait did you actually check his post history before banning him, or did you just react on the spot? I'm asking because I've seen plenty of longtime members post something dumb once and then immediately apologize when you message them privately. If he was a regular who contributed good stuff before, a warning and a deleted post might have kept him as an active member. But if you didn't look at his history at all, how do you even know if you made the right call or just shot first and asked questions later?

the_max1mo ago

That ban probably stopped a massive headache for you. But here's what gets me: did you check if that guy was a long-time member or just some random who showed up to stir the pot? If he was a regular, banning him might have cost you a member who just had a dumb moment. If he was a troll, then you did the right thing. Sometimes letting people argue it out just makes the group look bad and drives sane people away. What was his history like before that post?