Sure, there's quite a bit of satisfaction in banning, but reporting is different;
more satisfying. I think its the illusion of power that makes a difference. It's all about perspective. Let's put two users right next to each other:
Who has more power? If you said Badspot, you'd be right. Here's a list of what Badspot can do as an admin:
- Ban users from posting or sending PMs for any amount of time
- Pin and lock threads
- Access and post in restricted forum sections
- Move threads to different sections of the forum
- Ban the email address or IP address of any user for any amount of time
- Read PMs sent in between users
That's a lot more powerful than using a report feature. But like I said, it's all about perspective. When an admin sees a reported post they think "Ugh, what's going on now?" Because as fun as it sounds, banning people gets boring after doing it 5000 times over the course of nine years. But as a user, reporting a post makes you feel like you're helping other admins make the community a better place, even though you're not really doing anything. In other words, reporting is more satisfying than banning because instead of doing something, you're telling someone else to do it for you.
But I've never been a forum admin, so who am I to talk?
*Nothing in this post is meant to be about this forum specifically. It's meant to be about all forums in general.
