What should a suspended member's profile page look like?

[Andrew Mager]

Dear Creators:

We are working on some projects at Ning around suspension of members and the deletion of their content. There has been some discussion around this topic on Creators as well.

I wanted to get your feedback on what a suspended member's page should look like, if you as the Network Creator decide to keep the member's content on your Ning Network.

Here is a mockup of what we have right now (click here for a full page):

What elements should we include/omit from this page?

I am open to your ideas, and would love some feedback.

Thanks!
Andrew Mager
Web Developer, Ning

[Jen]

Hi Andrew,
In regards to the statement:
"Member Name" is no longer a member of: "Network Name".

I'm a little confused. Does this mean their account has been deleted, suspended, or what?
And if deleted, why would the URL come up at all?

Hopefully, it makes sense why I'm confused, -- almost an oxymoron, LOL! At the top of your discussion, you say "suspended", so let's go with that. ;-)

If they are suspended, yet their content still exists, why not do the following:
1. Do not show their profile page with content. Treat their profile page as if it were deleted.
2. Instead, show a page that only the "signed in owner" can see, "This account has been suspended. If you have any questions, please email Network Administrator [email link]."

It seems to me if you show "live" content for a suspended member's page, that the world can see, yet they can not control, could be a legal issue - - certainly a potential embarrassment to them, to say the least.

Best Regards,
Jen

[Travis]

I think I agree with Jen. If they are suspended/removed/whatever, why not just show a message saying the profile is unavailable and leave it at that? (Along with the note to the owner that she mentioned.)

If the account is suspended/blocked/etc, there's probably a good reason, so why show anything on their profile? I think just the error-type message would be sufficient.

Unless I am missing something?

[Tim]

Agreed. Once a profile has been excluded, it should be completely out of view as far as ordinary members are concerned. I don't want to get into discussions about "why was member X deleted?" unless I absolutely have to.

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi all,

Just to add to this a bit, we're looking at providing an option for someone who leaves the network to have their content retained rather than deleting it all; so this page would also be used in those situations.

[Travis]

What happens if someone makes their profile private now? Thinking it should just be along the same lines with a generic "Profile unavailable; this is not an error" message.

[FedMedic]

I like all of the suggestions, however, if someone was to leave a network, why would they want to leave their content and no longer have access to it? I'm just asking.

Also, if they were banned or suspended, would they still have the option of leaving their content? I'm confused.

[Jen]

Hi Phil,
Obviously you all have your reasons for the "removed content concerns". So, with that said, I'm not an Attorney; but, I still feel there is no reason to show their page to anyone else, after suspended.

Why? If it's just an issue of Ning not being able to delete their content, don't delete it. However, only make their content, available to them - - not others. Seems to me that's the safest bet on all counts.

• You are not deleting their content.
• You are giving them the option of deleting content (and, I would give them a built-in deadline possibly).
• You are not showing their "suspended" status to others.

Now, the only issue I see: What message to display when someone else tries to access a suspended page. Maybe, a canned URL for all these cases, simply stating, "Sorry for the inconvenience. Page is not accessible at this time." -- keeping in mind, the signed in owner CAN access their own page and content.

My thoughts,
:-)
Jen

[Tom]

I like the idea of having a simple note that says "this member has been removed" or something like that.

When people click on the latest acitivity of someone who has been banned it now says "our apologies this page can not be found" (or something like that) which makes people think there is something wrong with the network. There is nothing wrong with the network, we just had to ban a spammer.

[Charles]

why show a message saying "this person is no longer member of ..." who cares? once removed (for whatever reason), all content attached to this member should be removed.

@Phil if you leave a group on Facebook, all your content is deleted as well. It's that easy.

So, how should a suspended member's profile page look like? there's no profile, no problem, no brainstorming

[Charles]

sorry Debbie, i didn't know members or admins could suspend a profile.... wow is becoming very confusing. re facebook group vs network, i don't understand your comment but anyway, you must be right.

[Debbie]

Hi Charles :+)

I am assuming that you are talking about Ning Network creators. Only creators of a network can suspend a member..not a member suspending another member :+) As for Facebook, it is a Network..not a group. If you are talking about a 'group' that is something controlled by a member. Sorry, if I have created any confusion on your part.

[Charles]

It seems that we are using Facebook in a different way :)

so, here again: a Ning Creator CAN'T decide to keep a member's content after he left a network (suspended or not). All content must be deleted. Full stop.