Category definitions

I am introducing new categories of activity, and I am providing formal definitions with the guidelines now.

Categories of activity:

  • User-triggered
    • Deactivation: The user deactivates their own account. Signalled on their profile by a grey banner, “this user has deactivated their account”. The user needs to re-authenticate to access their account.
      • Deactivation notices will not be published by default to Necrologue. The community is invited to submit such notices to Argologue instead.
      • Deactivation notices will still be published on Necrologue, if accompanied by a Quit notice indicating that the the user is: (a) departing Quora permanently; (b) departing Quora temporarily, for reasons internal to Quora.
    • Quit: The user has made an explicit statement that they will no longer participate in Quora. Where publicly available, such statements will henceforth be linked to from the post itself. Bear in mind that users have various reasons for declining to participate in Quora.
    • Reducing Participation: The user has made an explicit statement that they are reducing the level of their engagement on Quora. Where publicly available, such statements will henceforth be linked to from the post itself.
    • Withholding Answers: The user has made an explicit statement that they will no longer answer questions on Quora. They will still do other actions on Quora, such as comment or message. Where publicly available, such statements will henceforth be linked to from the post itself.
    • Changed Name: The user has changed their name to something that is clearly not their real name. Typically a prelude to quitting, and usually accompanied by deactivation. As this flaunts the Real Name rule of Quora, I refer to it informally as “suicide by Real Name”.
    • Deleted Answers: The user has deliberately deleted a substantial number of answers they have contributed to Quora.
    • Deleted: The user has deleted their account. This removes all their answers and their profile from the Quora system. It thus makes them an “unperson” on Quora (someone who has chosen to remove their identity). Because their profile no longer exists, there is no identity to link to. Out of respect of their choice to unperson, this blog links to the last entry on Necrologue that mentioned them, instead of naming them.
  • Moderation-triggered
    • Edit-Blocked: The user is prevented by Quora from writing answers or comments on Quora for a fixed period of time. By default this is a week; longer periods of censure are indicated in the post.
    • Banned: The user is permanently prevented by Quora from logging in to their account. Signalled on their profile by a red banner, “this user has been banned”.
    • Unbanned: The ban on a user has been rescinded by Quora.

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