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I happen to see some users were suspended, how do I know some rules about this?

This account is temporarily suspended for rule violations. The suspension period ends on Aug 13 at 2:08.

I'm afraid of being suspended, tell me how to avoid that. -----! What I can image is that if I uploaded too images, or shouting abuse frequently?

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    $\begingroup$ Be polite to others. Don't create a sock-puppet userID. That will keep you out of suspensions, I think? If something else could get you suspended, the moderators will likely give you a warning first, and you will know what kind of adjustments you need to make. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 9:13
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    $\begingroup$ I think that all references to the particular users should be removed. In fact, I think you ought to delete this question completely and write a new one which simply says something along the lines "I found out that users can be suspended for violating the rules, how can I know the rules ..." $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 9:21
  • $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen ok, good to know that. warning first. $\endgroup$
    – HyperGroups
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 10:03
  • $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila I'm not sure about that, you can just help me edit the un-safe part of my question. Why delete? Let me edit the user first.I'm welcome to be edited and remove out any mistakes. $\endgroup$
    – HyperGroups
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 10:06
  • $\begingroup$ See this Meta.StackOverflow thread for some things that have gotten users suspended in the past. $\endgroup$
    – Lord_Farin
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 11:14
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    $\begingroup$ @Lord_Farin: Most of the entries on that list are about why the list should not exist. :) $\endgroup$
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 12:23
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    $\begingroup$ @Nate Indeed :). I, too, disagree that we should draw explicit lines (to avoid provoking those who like to explore the boundaries), but there are some past grounds for suspension (as opposed to iron-cast rules) mentioned there (in the question body) which I deemed relevant. Moreover, reading that thread may have the beneficial effect of coming to understand why we're not going to produce a "definitive set of rules". $\endgroup$
    – Lord_Farin
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 12:54
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    $\begingroup$ Switch to using your real name, and do not do anything after that that you would not want your work colleagues, professors, neighbors, family or friends to see. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 17:38
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    $\begingroup$ In the chapter of the TeXbook about error messages, Knuth wrote about one sort of error message "If you have been devious enough to get this message, you will know why, and you will deserve it." (This might not be exactly accurate; I'm a few thousand miles away from my copy of the TeXbook.) I think suspensions on math.SE work quite similarly. $\endgroup$
    – Andreas Blass
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 20:00
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    $\begingroup$ @WillJagy: Or, at least, keep to the second part of your comment...for, the first part has clearly not been sufficient in the past. :-) $\endgroup$
    – cardinal
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 21:20
  • $\begingroup$ @cardinal, fair enough. So: regardless, do not attempt to take over the world. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 22:26
  • $\begingroup$ @AndreasBlass The quote is "If you have been so devious as to get this message, you will understand it, and you will deserve no sympathy." $\endgroup$
    – Baby Dragon
    Commented Jul 5, 2013 at 5:57
  • $\begingroup$ warnings are not always first even if you are active and have light weight violations which can be neglected $\endgroup$
    – Anindya Prithvi
    Commented Aug 30, 2020 at 11:18

1 Answer 1

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Here are a few things that will get you in trouble:

Gaming the reputation system.
You can't make more than one MSE account and have your accounts shower upvotes upon each other to gain reputation. Similarly, you can't make a deal with another user to shower upvotes upon one another to gain reputation. (So, don't give all your upvotes to just a couple people, as we won't be able to tell the difference.) Conversely, don't downvote another user into oblivion out of revenge if he somehow makes you mad.

Abusing other users.
MSE is a professional environment, and as such everybody is expected to be behave in a reasonably professional manner, which includes being nice to one another. Suspensions in this area most commonly stem from repeatedly hating on new users, developing a vendetta against a single user, or having a persistent negative attitude that detracts from others' ability to enjoy the site. It's easy to be mean on the internet, but MSE is not a good place to take out one's frustrations.

Asking bad questions repeatedly.
Bad questions are defined loosely by the What Not to Ask section in our help center. If you're not getting lots of downvotes and negative feedback on the questions you ask, you don't have to worry about getting suspended (though users should always endeavor to improve the quality of their posts). Also, don't ask the same question over and over, even if you delete the older copies.

There are a few other reasons for suspensions, as mentioned in the comments, but these are the most common. A general rule of thumb is to strive to be helpful, honest, and cooperative with the rest of the community; this should keep you out of the moderators' crosshairs.

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    $\begingroup$ Just curious: did it ever happen that a user was suspended for asking bad questions repeatedly? $\endgroup$
    – Julien
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 21:07
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    $\begingroup$ @julien Yeah. The above is listed in order of frequency. $\endgroup$
    – Alexander Gruber Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2013 at 21:09
  • $\begingroup$ To be honest I think one must mention that the users banned for asking bad questions are those who received enough downvotes so that the system suspended them automatically. $\endgroup$
    – user26857
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 11:06
  • $\begingroup$ @Julien the system generates a ban...sometimes people get trolled too but unfortunately they get banned as well $\endgroup$
    – Anindya Prithvi
    Commented Aug 30, 2020 at 11:20

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